Extracts  from  the 
Zte/^/WILLIAM 

C.  LOBENSTINE 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  DIARY  OF 
WILLIAM  C.  LOBENSTINE 


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WILLIAM    C.  LOBENSTINE 


Extracts  from  the  Diary  of 

William  C.  Lobenstine 

December  31,  1851-1858 


Biographical  Sketch  by- 
Belle  W.  Lobenstine 


Printed  Privately 
1920 


Extracts  from  the  Diary  of 

William  C.  Lobenstine 

December  31,  1851-1858 


Biographical  Sketch  by 
Belle  W.  Lobenstine 


Printed  Privately 
1920 


J 


Copyright  1920  bt 
Belle  W.  Lobenstine 


CQ 
O 


Bancroft  Library 


In  Loving  Memory  of 

My  Father 
William  C.  Lobenstine 

That  those  of  us  who   follow  after 
may  honor  and  love  his  memory  and 
live  worthy  of  his  name 


FOREWORD 

This  book  does  not  in  any  sense  purport  to  be 
a  biography.  Often  during  Father's  lifetime,  on 
our  long  walks  together  or  during  long  quiet 
evenings  at  home,  he  would  tell  of  his  early 
life,  repeating  over  and  over  certain  incidents 
which  had  impressed  him  deeply  and  so — 
when  after  he  had  gone  we  found  among  his 
papers  two  closely  written  diaries  bound  in 
calf,  telling  of  his  trip  to  California  and  the 
return  from  there — it  seemed  most  natural  to 
work  over  these  diaries,  to  try  to  make  out  their 
closely  penciled  pages  and,  when  that  was 
done,  with  as  few  changes  as  possible,  to  pub- 
lish these,  together  with  a  brief  sketch  of  his 
early  life  and  a  few  explanatory  notes,  for  his 
family,  friends,  and  any  others  who  may  be 
interested  in  these  early  experiences  of  one  who 
came  seeking  the  best  in  this  country. 

The  construction  has  been  left  unchanged 
and  is  very  suggestive  of  the  German,  while 
the  use  of  words,  if  at  times  inaccurate  and 
somewhat  flowery,  is  remarkable  when  one 
considers  that  but  three  years  before  he  had 
come  to  this  country  an  immigrant  boy,  know- 
ing no  English  whatever.  He  was  constantly 
reading,  both  books  and  the  daily  papers  (has 
spoken  often  of  how,  later  on,  he  took  the 


New  York  Tribune  to  study  the  editorials  by 
Horace  Greeley),  and  then  trying  to  use  the 
new  words  which  he  found — doubtless  keeping 
his  diary  partly  for  that  purpose.  On  the 
whole  it  would  seem  that  he  has  succeeded  in 
making  his  thoughts  remarkably  clear.  Some 
of  these  are  very  characteristic  of  him  as  we 
knew  him  in  later  years — but  in  religious  mat- 
ters he  had  reacted  from  the  despotism  of  a 
strong  established  church  and  of  a  narrow- 
minded  bigotry  without  as  yet  knowing  the 
deep  personal  religious  experience  which  was 
afterwards  his.  As  to  his  political  views — it 
is  hard  to  believe  that  they  were  written  in 
1852  when  they  might  equally  well  have  been 
expressed  at  any  time  since  1914. 

Belle  Willson  Lobenstine 


INTRODUCTION 

Christian  Lobenstine  or  William  C.  Loben- 
stine,  as  he  called  himself  later  on  in  this 
country,  was  born  in  Eisfeld,  Dukedom  of 
Meiningen,  on  November  eighth,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one.  He  was  the  youngest  in 
his  family.  The  others  were  Theodore,  Caroline, 
Frederic,  Bernard,  Dorothea,  Georgia,  and 
Henry.  They  were  the  children  of  Johanne 
Andreas  and  of  Elizabeth  Lobenstein. 

His  father  and  older  brothers  were  tanners 
and  also  farmers.  Of  the  brothers,  Theodore, 
the  eldest,  seems  to  have  been  the  most  lovable, 
always  kind  to  his  younger  brothers  and  sisters. 
Father  always  spoke  very  affectionately  of  him. 
Frederic,  on  the  other  hand,  the  first  of  the 
boys  to  come  to  this  country,  was  stern  and 
rather  arbitrary  to  the  other  members  of  the 
family.  These,  and  Henry  who  also  came  to 
this  country,  together  with  his  father  and  his 
mother,  whose  gentleness  and  care  he  never 
forgot,  were  the  only  ones  of  whom  he  ever 
spoke. 

The  earliest  known  incident  of  his  life,  and 
one  to  which  he  often  referred,  came  when  he 
was  about  seven  years  old.  He,  with  other 
children,  was  playing  by  a  stream  near  the  tan- 
nery, and  he  fell  in.     It  was  early  spring  and 


the  waters  were  swollen  by  melting  snows  so 
that  he  was  carried  down  stream  very  rapidly. 
His  friends  ran  along  the  banks  with  grappling 
hooks  trying  in  vain  to  reach  him.  Finally, 
however,  the  stream  ran  under  a  bridge  and 
here  Theodore  ran  out  and  with  one  of  the  great 
hooks  used  in  handling  hides  in  the  tanyard, 
caught  him  by  the  buttonhole  of  his  vest. 
He  was  unconscious  but  they  were  able  to 
bring  him  to  and  carried  him  to  an  uncle  who 
had  an  inn  near  by.  After  a  night's  rest,  they 
took  him  home,  none  the  worse  for  his  adven- 
ture. 

As  he  grew  older  he  became  ambitious  for 
a  good  education  and  one  day  while  working 
in  the  fields  with  his  father,  mustered  up  cour- 
age to  ask  him  to  send  him  away  to  school, 
and  won  his  consent.  He  studied  three  years 
and  a  half  at  the  Real  Gymnasium  in  Meiningen. 
His  life  was  one  of  the  simplest  and  hardest. 
He  had  an  attic  room  with  some  townspeople 
and  ate  his  midday  meal  with  them.  His  break- 
fasts and  suppers  consisted  of  a  jug  of  water 
and  a  big  piece  of  the  rye  bread  of  the  country 
with  butter.  Once  in  a  while,  his  family  would 
send  him  down  a  ham.  He  kept  his  cot  at  the 
window  so  that  he  might  be  awakened  by  the 
first  rays  of  the  rising  sun  and  begin  to  study, 
for  he  always  worked  hard  for  what  he  got  and 
was  an  earnest,  faithful  student  rather  than  a 
brilliant  one.    He  kept,  however,  on  the  highest 


bench  all  the  way  through  common  school  and 
also  ranked  well  in  the  gymnasium. 

After  leaving  school,  he  studied  for  nearly  a 
year  with  a  country  doctor,  a  relative  of  his, 
going  about  with  him  and  assisting  in  many 
ways,  but  developed  no  liking  for  the  profes- 
sion and  so  gave  it  up  and,  together  with  his 
brother  Henry,  decided  to  come  to  America 
whither  Frederic  had  already  gone.  This  was 
in  eighteen  hundred  and  forty-nine,  when  a 
new  spirit  was  abroad  in  Germany  and  when 
people  looked  to  this  country  both  as  a  land  of 
freedom  and  also  as  a  place  where  one  could 
almost  literally  pick  up  gold  and  silver  on  the 
streets.  At  that  time  it  was  the  rule  in  Meiningen 
that  upon  emigrating,  you  forfeited  all  rights 
and  claims  upon  that  Government  and  before 
leaving  he  went  to  the  Castle  and  signed  papers 
giving  up  all  rights  of  German  citizenship. 
He  left  Germany  with  the  definite  idea  of 
settling  in  the  United  States,  making  it  his 
permanent  home  and  becoming  a  part  of  this 
new  country.  From  the  first,  therefore,  he 
chose  to  associate  with  Americans  and  to  use 
the  English  language  rather  than  keep  up  his 
German  associations. 

Coming  to  this  country  from  Havre  to  New 
York  on  a  sailing  ship  was  a  long  and  hard  jour- 
ney of  fifty-three  days  and  by  the  end  of  that 
time,  what  with  the  hardships  and  poor  fare, 
many  of  the  passengers  were  down  with  cholera. 


Father,  among  others,  was  taken  to  quarantine, 
which  was  a  very  different  place  from  what  it 
is  now.  While  many  were  dying  in  the  hospital 
— and  he  was  taken  to  the  ward  where  all  the 
very  worst  cases  were — he  did  not  believe  that 
he  was  very  ill  or  going  to  die.  Watching  what 
was  going  on  he  saw  them  take  one  patient 
after  another  and  dump  them  into  a  bath  with- 
out changing  the  water  and  finally  they  started 
for  him.  This  was  too  much,  and  he  jumped  up 
and  ran  back  into  another  ward  where  the  less 
serious  cases  were.  Here  they  let  him  stay 
until  he  was  able  to  leave  the  hospital.  He  had 
expected  to  find  the  people  of  this  country  living 
in  great  ignorance,  and  came  expecting  to 
teach,  but  he  was  adaptable  and  finding  that 
such  services  were  not  required  from  him,  a 
young  immigrant  lad,  he  quickly  turned  to 
other  things. 

He  went  first  to  WTieeling,  where  his  brother 
Frederic  was  in  the  leather  business,  and  worked 
for  him  about  a  year.  Then  he  took  to  steam- 
boating  on  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  Rivers. 
During  the  next  two  years  he  was  first  cabin 
boy  and  later  steward  and  had  many  stories 
to  tell  of  his  various  experiences.  Once  the 
steamer  upon  which  he  was  steward — through 
a  mistake  in  signals — struck  another  amidships 
and  cut  her  in  two.  Fortunately,  the  few  passen- 
gers on  board  were  saved,  before  she  sank. 
Another  time,  as  he  went  into  the  kitchen  to 


give  an  order  to  the  cook,  that  individual, 
more  drunk  than  sober,  proceeded  to  grab  up 
a  carving  knife  and  run  Father  out  of  the 
kitchen.  There  was  much  gambling  at  poker 
on  these  river  steamers  which  Father  saw  con- 
stantly. Also  much  crooked  work.  One  day  a 
man  left  the  table  and  asked  another  to  take 
his  hand  for  a  few  moments.  This  fellow  lost 
some  money  and  wished  to  repay  it,  but  was 
not  allowed  to.  So  the  others  gradually  drew 
him  into  the  game  and  cleaned  him  out.  Another 
time  a  man  gambled  his  all  (he  had  come  on 
board  with  a  good  pile  of  money)  and  when  he 
lost  he  grabbed  up  his  money  bag,  ran  to  the 
deck  of  the  steamer,  and  before  any  one  could 
stop  him — jumped  overboard.  Whether  he 
reached  the  shore  no  one  knew.  Probably, 
however,  he  was  drowned  in  the  turbid  waters 
of  the  Mississippi.  These  incidents,  together 
with  what  he  saw  while  in  California,  always 
gave  Father  a  strong  prejudice  against  cards, 
which  he  associated  almost  inevitably  with 
gambling  and  all  its  evils. 

After  two  years  of  this  life,  he  decided  to  seek 
his  fortune  in  the  Far  West,  and  his  diary  tells 
much  of  these  days.  A  few  other  details  of 
which  he  spoke  may  however  be  of  interest. 

The  emigrant  party  as  it  started  from  Pitts- 
burgh consisted  of  about  forty  men  and  ten 
wagons.  They  shipped  their  wagons  down  the 
Mississippi  and  up  the  Missouri  to  St.  Joseph 


where  they  bought  forty  oxen.  In  Father's 
wagon  was  Captain  Speers,  a  river  pilot  with 
whom  Father  had  worked  while  steamboating. 
He  was  a  farmer's  son  who  knew  about  cattle. 
There  was  also  a  business  man  named  Logan 
from  Allegheny  City.  He  was  a  strong  Christian 
man,  the  only  one  in  the  party  who  carried  a 
Bible  and  his  life  and  death  (for  it  was  he  whose 
death  is  mentioned  in  the  diary)  made  a  pro- 
found impression  on  Father.  One  evening  as 
they  sat  at  supper,  Logan  put  down  his  cup 
saying,  "I  don't  feel  well,"  and  went  into  his 
tent  to  lie  down.  There  was  a  doctor  in  the 
party  who  did  what  he  could,  but  the  next 
morning  at  four  Logan  was  dead — of  cholera. 
They  buried  him  there  on  the  prairie,  wrapped 
in  a  buffalo  robe  with  a  mound  of  stones  over 
the  grave  and  sent  the  little  Bible  back  to  his 
wife.  On  this  whole  trip  Father  was  the  cook 
for  his  mess  and  he  has  always  claimed  that  he 
made  a  splendid  one.  The  men  of  each  wagon 
seem  to  have  camped  together  and  had  their 
own  mess.  When  night  came  the  ten  wagons 
were  arranged  in  a  circle — the  tongue  of  one 
against  the  back  of  the  next — and  after  the 
cattle  had  been  allowed  to  graze  till  midnight, 
they  were  corralled  within  this  circle. 

Father's  mates  while  mining  were  Captain 
Speers,  McElrey,  and  Evans.  Their  camp  was 
back  in  the  mountains  quite  close  to  the  border 
of  Nevada,  with  Sacramento  as  their  nearest 


city,  where  they  went  for  supplies.  Their  claim 
was  located  several  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  creek,  so  in  order  to  get  water  they 
had  to  go  back  into  the  mountains  fifteen  miles. 
They  had  a  surveyor  survey  the  line  and  then 
these  four  men,  not  one  of  whom  was  a  mechanic 
and  all  but  one  town  bred,  went  to  work  to 
bring  down  water.  In  the  first  place  they  built 
a  dam.  Then  they  brought  the  water  down  hill 
and  in  one  place  bridged  a  valley  two  hundred 
feet  wide.  Their  form  of  mining  was  called 
gulch  mining.  They  built  flumes  or  long  boxes 
with  enough  fall  for  the  water  to  run  slowly 
and  into  these  they  dumped  the  pay  dirt.  The 
water  would  wash  away  the  earth  while  they 
stood  and  tossed  out  stones,  etc.  Finally,  after 
running  through  several  boxes,  the  earth  was 
all  washed  away,  leaving  only  the  heavy  gold, 
which  was  collected  by  quicksilver. 

The  men  worked  in  this  way  for  three  years, 
making  no  strikes  and  averaging  about  five 
dollars  a  day.  Then  Father  and  Speers  sold 
out  their  claim  and  went  to  a  large  camp, 
Camp  Secco,  Dry  Creek,  it  was  called,  and  went 
to  merchandising.  They  bought  mules  and  a 
wagon  and  brought  in  from  Sacramento  the 
usual  goods  necessary  to  miners.  After  two 
years,  the  captain  went  home  to  his  family. 
Father  hired  a  man  and  kept  on  for  another 
year,  after  which  he  sold  out  and  came  away, 
having  accumulated  six  thousand  five  hundred 


dollars,  the  beginning  of  his  fortune.  He  was  in 
California  from  eighteen  fifty-two  to  eighteen 
fifty-eight.  His  mates  were  sober,  hard-working 
men.  They  made  no  wonderful  strikes  and  what 
they  got  was  by  hard  work  and  perseverance. 

There  were  many  robbers  and  desperadoes 
about,  and  Father  made  one  dangerous  trip. 
He  had  left  the  few  schoolbooks  that  he  had 
carried  even  out  to  California  miles  away  with 
some  people  he  knew,  and  one  day  when  it  was 
raining  so  that  he  could  not  work  his  claim 
decided  to  go  after  them.  He  took  a  mule  and 
on  several  occasions  had  to  swim  swollen  creeks. 
Finally,  night  came  on,  and  he  was  caught  in 
the  hills  alone  where  many  a  man  had  disap- 
peared never  to  be  seen  again.  However,  after 
wandering  about  for  hours  in  the  darkness  and 
in  growing  terror,  he  reached  his  destination 
at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

Before  leaving  California  in  eighteen  fifty- 
eight  he  was  naturalized  in  the  San  Francisco 
court  and  ever  held  his  naturalization  papers 
as  one  of  his  most  prized  possessions. 

His  diary  tells  of  his  return  to  the  East  and 
his  choice  of  Leavenworth  for  a  home.  Here  he 
went  into  the  leather  business  as  the  one  of 
which  he  knew  most  and  with  his  later  life  and 
business  success,  we  are  all  familiar. 

Belle  Willson  Lobenstine 


I 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  DIARY  OF 
WILLIAM  C.  LOBENSTINE 


I 

EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  DIARY 

Among  the  great  many  opinions  expressed 
regarding  usurpation  of  the  government  or 
despotism,  one  attracted  my  attention  and 
agreed  so  much  with  my  own  sentiment  that  I 
could  not  but  pay  due  merit  to  the  moral  truth 
of  it.  Despotism  is  despicable  in  its  perpetrator 
and  at  all  times  a  disgrace  to  human  beings, 
depriving  them  perforce  of  their  inalienable 
rights  and  their  moral  esteem  for  themselves 
and  bringing  them  down  on  common  ground 
with  slaves.  Although  as  just  mentioned, 
despotism  is  at  all  times  disgraceful  to  both 
sides  we  ought  to  pity  those  beings  more  who 
got  their  power  as  an  inheritance  than  hate 
them.  Who  would  and  can  deny  that  the  early 
trainings  of  men  lay  the  foundations  to  their 
further  field  of  action?  Therefore,  when  princes 
become  the  heirs  of  absolute  governments, 
who  can  expect  them  to  act  differently  than  the 
Southern  man  does  to  his  slaves?  The  latter, 
who  was  brought  up  among  the  family  of  man- 
kind, and  has  accepted  principles  common  to 
them,  is  much  more  to  blame  for  his  tyranny 
than  a  sovereign  who  was  raised  alone  isolated 
from  his  fellowmen  by  a  belief  in  his  divine 

3 


origin  and  who  never  imagined,  therefore,  nor 
ever  dreamed  of  the  least  equality  with  man- 
kind. If  Napoleon  was  great  as  conqueror,  he 
was  equally  despicable  for  the  misuse  he  made 
of  the  confidence  entrusted  in  him  by  the  peo- 
ple, and  instead  of  perfecting  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  nation,  he  cheated  them  of  these 
very  objects  given  to  his  care  and  usurped  the 
government.  Napoleon  knew  how  to  play  the 
deceiver  well  enough  to  keep  the  people  in  their 
happy  dreams.  He  knew  how  to  flatter  them 
by  giving  them  all  visible  power,  but  he  showed 
by  his  future  way  of  action  that  he  only  played 
the  hypocrite  and  that  his  outward  course  only 
served  him  to  attain  his  inward  higher  object 
which  was  nothing  short  of  grasping  the  nation 
and  enslaving  his  own  countrymen,  as  all  other 
nations,  which  were  possible  for  him,  he  con- 
quered. Looking  back  from  the  point  we  started 
and  considering  once  more  both  hereditary  des- 
pots and  usurpated  despots,  so  will  we  certainly 
not  think  so  hard  of  one  who  has  got  that  power 
by  inheritance,  or  who  was  raised  from  infancy 
to  this  sole  object  of  keeping  the  people  down, 
in  poverty,  and  slavery,  as  of  a  usurpator,  who 
has  imbibed  principles  of  liberty  and  equality, 
sympathises  with  his  brothers,  and  becomes 
then  their  flatterer,  and  by  abuse  of  his  mental 
faculties  and  moral  sentiments,  with  a  happy 
change  of  circumstances,  their  master  and  com- 
mander. 


It  is  the  great  political  question  at  present, 
if  America  is  bound  by  the  treaties  with  the 
foreign  sovereigns  to  abstain  from  helping  the 
poor,  downtrodden  and  oppressed  people  of 
those  countries  to  their  attainments  of  their  in- 
alienable rights.  It  is  true  that  at  the  time  when 
our  constitution  was  made,  our  forefathers  or 
rather  their  representatives  in  Congress,  made 
a  contract  with  the  European  princes  to  observe 
neutrality  in  their  affairs,  and  declared  there- 
fore it  to  be  the  duty  of  this  government  for 
its  own  dignity  as  well  as  for  the  honor  of  the 
nation  not  to  send  any  help  to  Europe,  but  to  be 
free  from  doing  such  an  illegal  act.  America 
being,  however,  the  most  liberal,  and  by  that 
the  most  powerful  government  in  the  world,  if 
it  is  her  duty  to  stick  to  the  act  which  our  fore- 
fathers have  made,  there  is  still  the  other  side  of 
the  argument  to  consider,  to  arrive  to  a  proper 
result.  Justice  is  the  first  law  of  nature  and  as 
all  of  us  expect  to  get  justice  done  from  our 
neighbors,  and  especially  the  government  we 
have  chosen  out  of  our  minds,  so  humanity  de- 
mands to  see  our  brothers,  however  distant, 
equalized  in  the  same  way.  The  consistent  law 
or  the  laws  on  which  societies  are  framed,  and 
reared  up  to  developed  bodies,  are  of  various 
kinds,  devised  principally  by  our  philanthropists 
and  philosophers  and  legislators,  for  the  best  of 
the  parties  concerned.  Their  origin,  however, 
being  of  human  intellect  and  moral  sentiment, 


can  be  only  as  following  out  very  narrow  sources, 
limited  in  their  consistency  with  human  happi- 
ness. Laws  which  are  the  most  beneficial  influ- 
ence upon  a  society  under  certain  circumstances 
and  times,  may  be  quite  the  opposite,  with 
another  united  body,  under  different  physical 
and  moral  conditions.  Times  and  circumstances, 
therefore,  cannot  be  suited  to  laws,  but  the 
latter  need  to  be  in  a  harmonizing  cooperation 
with  the  former.  If,  therefore,  our  forefathers 
made  laws  or  what  is  the  same,  the  Constitu- 
tion, they  could  not  at  that  time,  establish  or 
devise  such  as  should  stand  for  all  times  but 
only  for  themselves  and  for  their  own  genera- 
tion. If  Washington,  John  Adams  or  Jefferson, 
made  treaties  with  foreign  despots,  it  was  for 
various  causes  arising  out  of  their  own  at  that 
time  yet  feebly  maintained  independence.  But 
times  have  changed,  out  of  that  spark  of  freedom 
which  fell  among  the  population  of  this  conti- 
nent has  come  a  powerful  government,  illumi- 
nating, with  its  might,  the  whole  world,  and 
whose  physical  powers  are  sufficient  to  crush 
all  enemies  to  dust  and  raise  downtrodden, 
oppressed  and  dishumanized  mankind  and  broth- 
ers up  to  their  by  nature  determined  position 
of  equality  and  fraternity.  As  maintained  be- 
fore, the  exhausted  position  of  America,  which 
only  could  follow  so  great  and  sacrificing  a 
struggle  as  that  of  the  war  of  independence, 
obliged  our  forefathers  to  make  friendly  treat- 

6 


ies  with  the  foreign  powers,  to  avoid  if  possible 
another  blow  upon  their  rights  and  liberties 
maintained  so  gloriously  with  England.  But 
what  is  our  strength  at  this  moment?  Are  we 
still  so  feeble?  Still  so  dependent  on  beings 
who  are  the  scourge  of  mankind  and  deface  the 
earth  with  cruelty  and  tyranny?  We  all  cer- 
tainly will  say  no.  All  will  say  America  is  no 
more  dependent  on  anybody  but  themselves 
and  nature's  laws.  Politics  and  love  to  live 
forced  legislators  to  treat  friendly  with  despots 
and  now  this  voice  of  justice  and  humanity 
calls  them  to  throw  off  this  so  long  maintained 
mask  of  amity  to  tyrannical  systems  and  to 
declare  themselves  at  once  for  mankind  and 
fellowmen.  The  voice  of  nature  is  mighty  and 
omnipotent.  She  calls  us  up  out  of  our  dream- 
like indifference  to  honorable  participation  in 
the  fate  of  our  fellowmen  and  makes  it  our  duty 
to  stand  in  defense  of  her  laws  on  this  planet 
and  home  of  intellectual  creatures.  Let  us  throw 
off  then  our  fastidious  way  of  action  and  exert 
one  and  all  of  us  the  strength  both  physical  and 
moral,  for  universal  happiness  and  so  lay  by 
this  the  road  to  world's  perfection. 


II 

VOYAGE  TO  CALIFORNIA 


II 

VOYAGE  TO  CALIFORNIA 

December  thirty-first,  eighteen  hundred  and 
fifty-one. 

Left  Wheeling  on  Steamer  Messenger  for  Pitts- 
burgh, April  twentieth.    Exodus  to  California. 

The  tide  of  emigration  for  California  swept 
me  along  in  its  progress  for  the  same  reason  as 
thousands  of  others — to  appropriate  money 
enough  by  a  few  years'  hard  toil,  to  secure  a 
future  independency.  When  first  the  idea  of 
a  movement  to  the  West  took  possession  of  me, 
I  was  wavering  in  the  choice  between  California 
and  Oregon  and  gave  finally  preference  to 
Oregon  on  account  of  securing  a  homestead  at 
the  arrival  there  and  to  judge  from  the  last 
news  of  the  diggings  better  wages  than  in  the 
latter.  From  an  inability  to  make  up  a  certain 
complement  of  immigrants  I  had  to  give  up  the 
project  and  go  to  California.  I  left  subsequently 
Pittsburgh  on  the  Steamer  Paris,  passing  Wheel- 
ing without  seeing  my  brother,  and  arrived 
after  a  week's  journey  down  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio  River  and  from  Cairo  up  the  Missis- 
sippi to  St.  Louis. 

The  Ohio  River  is  formed  by  the  confluence 
of  the  Monongahela  and  the  Allegheny  at  Pitts - 

11 


burgh,  the  formation  of  which  place  is  alluvial 
bottom  carried  down  from  the  mountains  in 
previous  ages.  It  has  along  its  shores  some  of  the 
finest  agricultural  country  as  well  as  numberless 
cities  and  towns,  among  which  we  count  the 
following  as  the  largest  and  where  the  most 
business  is  carried  on:  Wheeling,  Virginia, 
Marietta,  Ohio,  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  Evans- 
ville,  etc.  Besides  these,  being  all  places  where 
manufacture  of  all  kinds  is  carried  on,  I  mention 
from  its  great  obstruction  to  navigation,  rather 
than  its  cosmogenic  character,  the  Falls  of 
Louisville,  with  the  nature  of  which  I  am,  how- 
ever, too  little  acquainted  to  give  particulars. 
A  canal,  which  was  built  years  ago,  to  overcome 
this  obstacle,  is  of  so  little  dimensions  that  the 
larger  boats  can  not  pass  through  and  therefore 
this  has  always  been  a  drawback  to  Ohio  navi- 
gation and  a  hindrance  to  more  progress  for  the 
City  of  Louisville.  Several  requests  have  lately 
been  made  from  several  states  to  Congress  for 
the  construction  of  a  new  canal  large  enough  to 
let  boats  of  large  dimensions  pass  at  any  time 
conveniently.  The  hills  running  alongside  the 
river  beginning  at  its  source  generally  slope 
down  to  its  shores,  having  in  many  places  very 
fertile  tracts  for  agriculture.  This  mountain 
chain  proceeds  most  of  the  time  in  a  parallel 
direction  with  the  river  down  to  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  two  hundred  miles  below  the 
falls  where  they  gradually  descend  to  a  level 

12 


covered  with  luxurious  vegetation  in  some  places 
while  marshes  extend  over  a  considerable  part 
of  it.  The  confluence  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
is  at  Cairo,  built  on  a  vast  swampy  and  un- 
healthy desert  which,  but  for  its  low  level, 
would  be  the  central  place  of  the  United  States, 
for  merchants,  around  which  they  would  gather 
and  from  whose  midst  the  greatest  movements 
would  emerge  and  be  controlled.  This  being, 
however,  a  natural  difficulty,  which  no  human 
skill  can  ameliorate,  that  centralizing  point  has 
to  move  higher  up  the  river  to  St.  Louis.  This 
latter  place  has  within  the  last  twenty  years 
increased  remarkably  and  is  at  present  the 
metropolis  of  the  West  and  will  undoubtedly 
increase  in  importance  in  a  ratio  parallel  with 
the  civilization  of  California  and  Oregon.  By 
the  present  tide  of  emigration  to  the  latter 
countries  the  amount  of  business  is  very  much 
increased.  In  consequence  of  this  a  great  many 
improvements  have  been  made,  consisting  in 
building  a  large  number  of  new  expensive  houses 
for  merchants  and  manufacturers  which  betray 
to  every  stranger  at  the  first  look  the  impres- 
sion of  a  great  and  industrial  city. 

Leaving  St.  Louis  on  the  Steamer  El  Paso,  we 
proceeded  up  the  Mississippi  twenty  miles 
where  we  left  this  river  to  follow  the  course  of 
another  great  river,  the  Missouri.  This  has  in 
its  main  features  a  great  resemblance  to  the 
Mississippi,  having  a  chain  of  mountains  parallel 

13 


to  both  its  shores  and  being  sown  with  number- 
less islands  like  the  former,  the  most  of  them 
nothing  but  sand  carried  down  from  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  The  hills,  however,  instead  of  break- 
ing off  abruptly  as  on  the  Mississippi  are  gen- 
erally sloping  gradually  at  a  height  of  sixty  or 
seventy  feet,  toward  the  river  bed.  The  coun- 
try along  the  shores  is  comparatively  little  cul- 
tivated, the  constantly  washing  power  of  the 
water  keeping  back  any  active  efforts  for  agri- 
cultural improvements.  A  great  number  of 
quite  respectable  towns  are  met  with  along  the 
river,  as  Alton,  Washington,  Jefferson,  Boone- 
ville,  Lexington,  Independence  (starting  point 
for  California,  Oregon  and  Texas)  then,  Kansas 
and  last  St.  Joseph.  The  Kansas  River  coming 
from  the  West,  separates  Missouri  from  the 
Indian  Territory,  the  latter  still  peopled  by 
the  Indians  as  their  last  and  only  resting  place 
in  this  country.  The  history  of  this  great 
family  of  the  human  race  teaches  us  the  con- 
stant progress  and  retreat  in  the  pursuit  of 
nature's  laws,  the  eternal  relation  of  all  things 
existing.  This  once  so  numerous  family  of  red 
men  were  the  sole  possessors  of  America,  over 
which  they  had  extended  in  all  directions,  and 
several  tribes  had  reached  a  high  state  of  civi- 
lization when  the  country  first  was  discovered, 
but  as  other  families  analogous  to  their  own 
(Hindus  and  Malays),  they  retrograded  by 
some  aberration  of  the  laws  of  nature  and  fell 

14 


back  into  moral  darkness  and  gradual  disap- 
pearance from  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  red 
men,  once  the  masters  of  this  vast  land,  had  to 
give  up  their  homes  to  give  room  to  its  present 
inhabitants  and  who  knows  how  soon  an  inevit- 
able Nemesis  will  strike  out  their  existence  from 
the  Book  of  Nations? 

This  territory  consists  of  mostly  fertile  prairie 
land,  of  an  undulating  appearance  offering  most 
beautiful  fields  to  the  observer  of  nature's 
beauties.  After  six  days'  journey  we  arrived 
at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri.  After  our  landing  was 
made,  a  most  active  business  took  place  at  the 
wharf  for  a  few  hours  arising  from  the  delivery 
of  freight  to  its  respective  owners.  Having  re- 
ceived our  little  property  we  put  it  in  our 
wagons  and  camped  out  about  a  half  mile  above 
the  town  in  a  valley  surrounded  by  hills  and 
corn  fields  and  except  for  a  few  cold  rainy  days 
we  had  a  good  encampment  and  passed  the  time 
we  were  there  in  making  preparation  for  our  long 
journey. 

We  left  camp  the  third  day  of  May  to  pro- 
ceed on  our  journey  further  West,  and  after  a 
few  hours  traveling  not  obstructed  by  difficul- 
ties with  our  teams  nor  bad  roads,  we  arrived 
at  Duncan's  Ferry  where  emigrants  for  the  West 
leave  the  United  States  and  cross  over  to  the 
Indian  Territory.  The  ferry  being  badly  attend- 
ed to  by  its  owners  travelers  were  obliged  to 
stop  here  rather  longer  than  would  be  necessary 

15 


if  things  were  put  in  better  condition  with  bet- 
ter men  there  to  take  care  of  it.  We  got  across 
the  river,  however,  after  a  thirty-six  hour  deten- 
tion and  put  our  foot  on  Indian  ground  the 
morning  of  the  fifth,  went  on  five  miles,  where, 
meeting  good  wood  and  water,  we  struck  our 
camp  and  stopped  until  the  next  morning. 

May  sixth.  The  quiet  of  the  night  from  the 
fifth  to  the  sixth  was  interrupted  by  the  heavy 
rolling  of  thunder,  and  its  darkness  by  flashes 
of  lightning.  Towards  morning  we  had  a  very 
heavy  rain,  which,  although  it  put  the  roads  in 
a  rather  bad  condition,  helped  the  vegetation 
considerably,  and  therefore,  was  of  some  ad- 
vantage to  our  procedure.  On  the  morning  of 
the  sixth  we  started  on  our  journey,  and  after 
passing  a  river  which  is  difficult  to  cross  we 
ascended  for  the  first  time  the  plateau  this  side 
of  the  Missouri.  After  having  got  up  to  a  height 
of  about  fifty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Missouri 
River,  a  magnificent  scene  was  displayed  to 
our  view,  resembling  very  much  my  native 
country  —  Germany.  The  whole  ground  is 
prairie  land,  running  off  in  slight  undulations 
to  the  horizon  and  bounded  in  its  Eastern 
progress  by  the  bed  of  the  Missouri  and  the 
mountain  chains  on  the  left. 

Nature  is  in  this  territory  following  its  gradual 
progress  and  offers  a  vast  land  for  cultivation  to 
the  natives  of  this  and  other  continents.  The 
civilization   of  this   territory   and   Oregon   will 

16 


raise  America  to  its  pinnacle  of  perfection,  both 
in  wealth  and  moral  efficiency.  California  and 
the  Western  shore  of  Oregon  will  become  a 
centralizing  place  for  business  progress  from 
which  knowledge  will  spread  out  a  beacon  light 
to  all  nations. 

We  traveled  this  day  about  ten  miles  North- 
westward from  our  last  encampment  and  about 
fifteen  miles  from  St.  Joseph.  Our  team  got 
along  very  well  and  could  have  traveled  several 
miles  more  but  for  driving  our  cattle  as  little 
as  possible  the  first  few  days,  to  let  them  gather 
all  the  strength  possible.  We  encamped  at  the 
left  of  the  road  where  we  met  with  plenty  of 
wood  and  water  and  off  to  the  right  with  pasture 
for  our  cattle. 

On  the  morning  of  the  seventh  after  having 
fed  our  oxen  and  taken  some  refreshment  our- 
selves we  started  for  our  further  journey.  About 
one-half  mile  from  Camp  we  passed  the  Creek, 
on  its  upward  ascent;  passing  on  about  a  mile 
further  we  arrived  at  Wolf  Creek,  across  which 
the  Indians  have  struck  a  bridge,  for  the  cross- 
ing of  which  they  charge  the  emigrants  a  high 
price.  It  is,  however,  a  great  convenience  to 
the  latter,  the  creek  being  about  thirty  feet  wide 
and  from  three  to  four  feet  deep.  The  Indians, 
who  built  the  bridge,  have  put  up  their  camp 
there.  This  side  of  the  creek  I  ascended  several 
hills,  and  after  traveling  about  five  miles  ar- 
rived at  the  Mission.    This  is  an  Indian  settle- 

17 


ment,  where  the  Indians  are  taught  the  prin- 
ciples of  Christianity.  It  consists  of  a  few  log 
huts,  one  of  which  contains  stores  where  sev- 
eral of  our  traveling  companions  stopped  and 
bought  articles  necessary  on  our  journey. 

After  leaving  the  Mission  we  went  on  about 
thirteen  miles  further,  meeting  within  this  dis- 
tance with  several  springs  and  after  passing 
another  creek  we  went  up  to  the  next  hill  and 
put  up  quarters  for  the  night.  This  evening  we 
bought  a  pony  from  some  of  the  emigrants, 
which,  although  not  of  immediate  necessity  for 
the  journey,  is  a  very  convenient  thing  to  its 
owners. 

On  the  morning  of  the  eighth  I  mounted  the 
pony  and  rode  ahead  for  a  few  miles.  I  mention 
this  as  being  rather  something  great,  being  the 
first  riding  ever  I  did.  Crossed  about  three 
miles  from  our  last  encampment — Buffalo  Creek 
— where  the  Indians  again  charge  toll  for  cross- 
ing and  drove  on  this  side  the  creek  about  twelve 
miles,  meeting  the  grave  of  a  deceased  emigrant, 
on  which  lay  a  live  dog,  probably  the  only 
faithful  servant  to  his  master,  howling  away  and 
paying  the  last  tokens  of  sympathy  to  him  who 
was  resting  there  in  a  lonely  grave.  We  stopped 
at  the  left  of  the  road  till  morning,  where  we 
calculated  to  lay  over  Sunday.  However, 
not  finding  good  pasture  for  our  cattle, 
we  left  there  about  eleven  o'clock  and  pro- 
ceeded forwards   about   eight  miles  where  we 

18 


unyoked  our  teams  and  put  up  for  the  night. 

May  the  tenth.  We  started  early  in  the 
morning,  proceeding  Southwest  on  our  road. 
Although  the  sky  was  clear  at  daylight,  it  cloud- 
ed over  toward  noon  and  we  had  one  of  the  hard 
storms  frequent  on  the  plains  and  exposing  the 
emigrants  to  discomfort  and  contagious  dis- 
eases. Having  driven  off  from  the  road  expect- 
ing to  find  water  and  wood  in  a  Southwesterly 
direction,  about  two  miles  off,  we  finally  met, 
after  having  been  wet  all  through,  a  creek  bor- 
dered by  plenty  of  timber,  where  we  put  up 
our  encampment.  These  were  some  of  the  most 
discouraging  moments  we  had  since  our  start 
— arising  from  the  wet  and  cold  of  the  weather, 
and  only  moral  courage  can  at  this  moment 
prevent  moral  depression.  A  man  that  had 
come  around  with  us  from  Pittsburgh  and  dis- 
played to  us  the  most  gentlemanly  behaviour, 
having  started  with  a  sick  family  of  eight  little 
children  from  St.  Joseph,  and  kept  with  us  up 
to  this  night,  keeping  up  under  all  difficulties, 
was  obliged,  on  account  of  his  wife  getting  sick, 
a  woman  of  the  greatest  energy  ever  met  with, 
to  turn  back  to  the  States.  After  having  dried 
ourselves,  we  took  a  good  night's  rest  and  started 
with  new  vigor  the  next  morning  on  our  jour- 
ney. We  had  no  difficulty  getting  along  until 
about  three  o'clock  P.M. 

About  this  time  we  arrived  at  a  creek  called 
Mehemahah.    The  descent  to  the  water  is  very 


steep  and  muddy,  however  of  no  great  diffi- 
culty, compared  to  what  is  on  the  other  side. 
Here,  after  passing  the  rapid  stream,  the  water 
up  to  the  wagon  beds,  we  had  to  wade  through 
some  of  the  greatest  mud  holes  ever  met  with 
before.  Several  of  the  teams  got  stuck  on  the 
other  side.  By  increasing,  however,  the  force, 
they  finally  got  out  and  cleared  the  road  for 
us  to  pass.  After  having  proceeded  about  three 
miles  on  this  side  of  the  Mehemahah  we  stopped 
for  the  night. 

It  is  Wednesday  to-day,  the  twelfth  day  of 
May,  and  we  have  safely  arrived  at  this  side 
of  the  Big  Blue  River.  This  is  a  very  nice  stream 
and  bordered  with  willow,  elm  and  walnut  and 
some  of  the  oak  found  on  the  hills.  We  crossed 
the  river  the  next  day  having  but  little  difficulty, 
the  river  being  low  and  the  roads  good.  A 
starting  house  is  to  be  found  at  the  ferry  this 
side  of  the  river  where  emigrants  can  get  what 
is  most  necessary  on  the  journey.  The  country 
Westward  of  the  Blue  becomes  very  hilly,  which 
with  the  rivulets  and  streams  between  presents 
a  beautiful  scene.  The  Blue  River  is  about  one 
hundred  fifty  miles  from  St.  Joseph  and  sup- 
posed to  be  about  one-half  the  distance  to  Fort 
Kerney.  We  have  traveled  since  our  fording  of 
that  stream  about  thirty-five  miles  and  are  at 
the  present  encamped  somewhere  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Little  Blue.  The  weather  set  in  ex- 
tremely cold  and  stormy  about  midnight  and 

20 


not  having  sufficient  bed  clothing  nearly  froze 
me  to  death.  After  having  got  up  and  taken  our 
morning  refreshments,  we  went  on  to  our  present 
place  of  encampment.  The  just  mentioned 
stormy  and  extremely  cold  weather  continued 
throughout  the  day,  which,  with  the  dust  raised 
off  the  roads,  made  traveling  very  disagreeable 
and  difficult. 

On  Sunday  last  we  got  in  sight  of  the  Little 
Blue  in  a  Southerly  direction  from  our  present 
route.  We  did  not,  however,  come  to  its  banks 
before  Tuesday  the  eighteenth  day,  and  passed 
up  an  extremely  hilly  country  for  about  twenty- 
five  miles  and  left  this  river  for  the  Platte. 

We  didn't  leave  the  banks  of  Little  Blue  until 
this  afternoon,  Tuesday,  the  twentieth,  the 
misstatement  previously  mentioned  arising  from 
the  unauthenticity  of  the  guide  we  took  the 
respective  distances  from.  The  parallel  distance 
we  made  along  the  shores  of  this  river  must  have 
been  about  fifty  to  sixty  miles.  It  is  a  very 
beautiful  stream,  much  more  elevated  in  its 
beauty  by  the  barrenness  of  the  surrounding 
country.  Its  water  is,  when  at  a  medium  stage, 
very  clear  and  of  very  good  taste.  On  our  pas- 
sage up  the  river  we  got  in  view  of  several 
prairie  inhabitants  as  wolves,  chickens  and  sev- 
eral miles  off  the  river,  antelopes  and  single 
specimens  of  buffalo. 

The  weather  of  to-day,  although  it  was  very 
pleasant  and  favorable  to  our  journey,  caused 

21 


by  its  continued  dryness  a  dearth  of  grass  and 
by  this,  loss  in  the  strength  of  our  cattle.  While 
I  am  writing  these  remarks  a  change  of  weather 
has  taken  place,  which  likely  will  make  an  im- 
provement in  the  growth  of  the  vegetation. 
The  health  of  our  company  has  been,  since  our 
start,  in  a  good  condition  and  although  a  num- 
ber of  deaths,  partly  of  cholera  morbus  and 
smallpox  happened  among  the  emigrants,  all 
of  us  are  still  enjoying  our  vigorous  health  and 
in  general  are  in  a  good  spirited  mood.  The  fre- 
quent change,  however,  from  hot  days  to  damp 
cold  nights  is  sufficient  to  undermine  the  stoutest 
constitution.  How,  therefore,  we  will  in  future 
this  great  gift  of  nature — health — preserve,  is 
not  to  be  fixed  as  a  definite  fact.  Be  it,  however, 
understood,  that  a  careful  observance  of  physio- 
logical laws  can  abate  diseases  to  a  considerable 
extent. 

May  the  twenty-first.  We  are  now  encamped 
about  six  miles  Northwards  of  the  Little  Blue, 
and  although  late  in  the  day  we  have  on  account 
of  the  rainy  and  stormy  weather,  not  as  yet  de- 
camped. 

May  the  twenty-third.  It  is  Sunday  to-day 
and  the  great  bright  luminary  of  the  day  is 
peeping  over  the  horizon  in  its  full  splendor, 
and  eternal  youthfulness  animating  the  whole 
creation  and  endowing  it  with  new  strength  and 
vigor.  The  remark  so  frequently  referred  to 
by  Christians  that  the  sublime  beauty  displayed 

22 


by  the  sun  proved  the  existence  of  a  God,  was 
made  to  me  last  night  by  a  Universalist.  True, 
the  beauty  is  grand  and  sublime,  but  it  is  so 
without  divinity  connected  with  it.  It  is  not 
something  beyond  nature  but  a  planetary  phe- 
nomenon following  the  great  arrangements,  the 
great  and  eternal  laws  of  Mother  Nature.  No 
reasonable  man  will  doubt  the  existence  of  a 
great  incomprehensible  principle  which  per- 
vades throughout  all  nature,  but  this  principle 
is  nothing  separated  from  the  universe  but  is 
the  great  whole  itself  which  can  exist  only  all 
in  all  and  not  other  ways  which  always  was, 
always  is  and  always  will  be,  although  things 
may  be  subjected  to  great  changes. 

We  stopped  in  our  camp  a  considerable  part 
of  the  day,  Orthodox  Christians  objecting  to 
our  movement.  Calling,  however,  a  meeting, 
and  taking  every  single  vote,  the  majority  car- 
ried the  motion  for  moving  onwards.  Having 
arrived  last  night  within  three  miles  to  Fort 
Kerney,  we  made  this  distance  in  about  an  hour's 
time.  The  resemblance  of  this  place  to  the  civi- 
lized world  awakened  in  us  a  great  feeling  of 
happiness  thinking  that  although  far,  far  off  from 
home,  out  in  a  great  desert,  still  enjoyment  was 
offered  to  the  onward  moving  emigrant.  The 
fort  consists  of  five  frame  houses,  two  for  the 
use  of  the  commanding  officers,  the  rest  for  the 
soldiers,  all  built  in  good  style  well  answering 
their  respective  purposes.    Besides  these  build- 

23 


ings  is  a  church  for  the  service  of  the  Lord  which 
is  frequented  by  soldiers,  civilized  Indians  and 
passing  emigrants.  About  three  miles  above  the 
fort,  we  lost,  by  the  carelessness  of  one  of  the 
men,  our  pony.  By  the  hardest  kind  of  running, 
we  recovered  it  again.  Nothing  of  weight  hap- 
pened the  next  day.  Having  proceeded  about 
twenty  miles  further  up  the  river  we  stopped 
for  the  night. 

Twenty-sixth.  We  are  now  about  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  off  St.  Joseph,  encamped 
along  the  bank  of  the  Platte  here  of  about  one 
and  one-half  miles  width  and  very  shallow.  The 
river  is  sown  with  small  islands  all  of  very 
modern  formation.  They  are  generally  over- 
grown with  cottonwoods,  and  some  of  the  oak 
kind,  frequented  more  or  less  by  wild  geese, 
crows  and  numerous  birds  of  smaller  kind.  Just 
as  I  am  writing  these  lines  my  attention  is 
attracted  by  the  sublimity  of  the  scenery 
around  us.  The  whole  Western  border  of  the 
horizon  is  grandly  beautified  by  the  setting  sun 
which,  although  out  of  sight,  still  leaves  traces 
of  its  grand  and  sublime  beauty  behind,  painting 
the  horizon  with  the  most  various  colours.  It 
is  getting  darker  and  the  far  off  peaks  of  a  moun- 
tain chain  which  appears  to  follow  a  parallel 
course  with  the  edges  of  the  horizon  gradually 
disappear.  Quiet  and  peace  is  spread  all  over 
nature's  garden.  Many  a  turbulent  mind  is 
silenced    by   this    beautiful    phenomenon,    and 

24 


while  yet  gazing  at  it,  is  sunk  in  the  arms  of 
the  God  of  Sleep,  Morpheus. 

May  the  twenty  -  ninth,  morning  at  five 
o'clock.  We  have  traveled  since  my  last  notes 
were  put  down  forty  miles  through  a  very  barren 
mountainous  country,  grass  being  very  scarce 
and  water  of  inferior  character,  having  in  it 
dissolved  some  alkali  substances.  The  second 
day  or  May  twenty-eighth,  inserting  first  that 
the  day  before  we  passed  several  creeks,  meet- 
ing a  most  splendid  spring  at  the  last,  we  struck 
the  bluffs  near  about  the  forks  of  the  river.  The 
bluffs  which  I  visited  this  day  are  mainly 
composed  of  sand,  likely  deposited  there  by  the 
wind  in  latter  times.  The  whole  bottom  along 
the  Platte  is  mostly  sand  which  in  dry  season  on 
account  of  the  violent  winds  which  prevail  here, 
nothing  being  here  to  break  its  force,  is  a  great 
inconvenience  to  travelers.  The  Platte  river 
bottom  below  and  above  Fort  Kerney  up  to 
where  the  road  meets  with  the  bluffs,  is  very 
little  above  the  level  of  its  waters,  varying  from 
five  to  fifteen  feet  above  that,  however,  till  when 
you  strike  the  above  mentioned  point,  its  alti- 
tude is  about  twenty -five  feet. 

We  met  on  the  latter  part  of  our  journey 
numerous  graves  of  emigrants  who  had  finished 
their  course  in  nature's  garden  to  adopt  new 
form  and  shape  suiting  a  different  object  in 
nature.  The  deceased  died  mostly  of  cholera  and 
smallpox,  more  or  less  originating  from  an  un- 

25 


healthy  diet,  bad  water  and  exposure.  Good  care 
and  observance  of  physiological  laws,  however, 
as  I  previously  mentioned,  can  considerably 
alleviate  the  diseases,  if  not  keep  them  off  alto- 
gether, from  which  cause  then,  I  principally 
account  for  the  good  state  of  our  health. 

We  are  now  about  crossing  the  river  (the 
South  fork  of  it)  the  forks  of  which  we  struck  a 
day  before  this.  The  river  runs  in  a  Southwest 
direction  and  is  about  half  a  mile  wide  and  very 
shallow,  with  quicksand  in  the  bottom.  The 
fordage  was  of  no  difficulty  to  us,  the  river  as 
first  mentioned  being  very  low,  and  having 
arrived  on  its  opposite  side  we  pursued  our 
journey  in  a  West  -  Northwesterly  direction 
toward  the  Cedar  Bluffs.  After  having  the  day 
before  stopped  about  five  o'clock  at  the  right 
of  the  road,  where  we  met  with  fairly  good 
grass  and  water,  we  traveled  the  next  day, 
Sunday,  the  thirtieth,  till  we  reached  the  point 
where  the  road  strikes  the  Bluffs  which  latter 
point  is  about  twenty  or  twenty-five  miles  from 
where  we  crossed  the  river.  Stopped  about  ten 
o'clock  and  encamped  to  rest  ourselves  and  our 
cattle  for  the  remainder  of  the  day,  which  by 
the  hard  road  and  great  heat  of  the  past  week 
was  very  much  required  to  invigorate  us  for  the 
future.  I  read  several  chapters  of  Byron,  but 
my  mind  being  nearly  down  to  zero  on  account 
of  the  excessive  heat,  I  could  not  concentrate 
my  spirits  enough  to  follow  his  violent  imagina- 

26 


tion.  Next  morning  we  started  early  for  the 
Bluffs.  The  passage  of  them  was  very  hard  on 
our  teams,  the  weather  being  very  hot  and  the 
road  being  all  sand,  our  wagons  cut  in  very  deep 
and  therefore  required  the  hardest  pulling  to  get 
along.  We  descended  down  the  other  side — a 
terrible  steep  road — having  traveled  about  ten 
miles  over  the  hills  and  after  proceeding  ten 
miles  further  we  encamped  nigh  the  river  whirl- 
pool. Here  was  a  good  camping  ground,  dry  and 
pleasant. 

Tuesday  we  started  for  Ashes  Hollow,  being 
about  eighteen  miles  from  our  starting  place. 
The  road  led  like  the  previous  days  through 
very  sandy  regions,  the  parallel  running  bluffs 
offering  from  the  sameness  of  appearance  in 
stratifications  and  composition  very  little  attrac- 
tion to  the  passing  travelers.  Two  miles  this 
side  Ashes  Hollow,  the  road  ascends  a  very  steep 
hill,  about  sixty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
being  undoubtedly  the  hardest  hill  to  pass  over 
we  have  met  up  to  this  on  our  journey.  After 
having  got  up  to  its  highest  point,  the  road 
gradually  descends  into  the  hollow  which  builds 
with  the  former  a  square  angle.  This  valley  is 
about  two  hundred  feet  wide,  bordered  with 
rocks  and  fine  gravel  in  its  hollow  and  timbered 
with  ash  trees  and  some  wild  roses  and  grapes. 
A  cool  spring,  unsurpassed  in  its  water  by  any 
we  have  met  yet  in  this  territory,  is  to  be  found 
to  the  right  of  the  creek  about  a  mile  from 

27 


where  you  first  strike  it.  There  we  met  a  kind  of 
trading  post  where  several  articles  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  journey  for  a  reasonable  price 
can  be  got.  We  passed  on  about  two  miles 
further  from  where  we  left  the  latter  and  en- 
camped for  the  night  (June  second). 

Monday,  June  7th.  Last  week  I  neglected, 
not  being  at  leisure  in  mornings  or  evenings 
and  too  much  downspirited  at  noon,  to  keep  up 
my  journal  with  the  events  as  I  met  them,  but 
I  shall  try  to  recall  in  my  memory  the  main 
objects  met  with.  For  two  days  after  we  left 
Ashes  Hollow  the  roads  were  bad,  being  very 
hard  on  our  cattle  as  well  as  ourselves.  We  got 
along,  however,  as  well  as  circumstances  did 
permit  and  after  passing  several  creeks,  hove  on 
Friday  last  towards  noon,  in  sight  of  Courthouse 
Rocks,  called  so  by  emigrants  from  a  supposed 
resemblance  with  the  building  of  that  name, 
but  appearing  to  me,  however,  more  like  some 
ancient  castle  than  the  object  it  is  compared 
with.  The  rock  is  about  eight  miles  off  the 
road,  a  very  deceiving  distance  to  the  traveler 
who  thinks  it  only  two  or  three  miles  off. 

Proceeding  further,  having  the  Courthouse 
to  our  left,  and  the  Platte  at  our  right,  the 
pinnacle  of  another  rock  got  within  the  reach  of 
our  eye.  This  is  what  is  called  a  chimney  rock 
from  its  great  resemblance  to  some  factory  chim- 
neys. Although  nearly  twenty  miles  away  it 
could  distinctly  be  seen.     We  traveled  on  to 

28 


within  about  eight  miles  of  it  and  encamped  to 
the  right  of  the  road,  nigh  the  river  bank.  The 
next  morning  we  started  early.  Some  of  our 
company  went  on  ahead  to  ascend  the  rock.  I 
stayed  with  the  wagon,  being  not  very  well  on 
foot,  and  proceeded  slowly  on  our  journey. 
Chimney  rock  is  about,  from  its  base  to  its 
apex,  four  hundred  feet  high,  consisting  of  a  low 
and  second  platform.  Upon  the  latter  is  the 
chimney  or  shaft  of  the  rock  nearly  one  hundred 
feet  high.  This  rock  is  principally  composed  of 
marl  and  clay,  intermixed  with  several  strata  of 
white  cement.  Joining  the  chimney  rock,  right 
above  it,  I  beheld  a  most  beautiful  sight,  being 
a  section  of  rock  of  singular  construction  resem- 
bling in  its  appearance  very  much  some  of  the 
scenery  along  the  Rhine.  The  whole  consisted 
of  five  rocks,  one  approaching  the  form  of  anoth- 
er smaller  chimney  and  giving  with  the  rest  a 
most  grand  view,  just  like  an  ancient  fort  of 
the  feudal  barons  on  an  average  steep  ascending 
hill,  with  cupola  on  the  top  assuming  the  forms 
of  ruins.  Had  I  the  talent  of  a  Byron  or  the 
skilled  hand  of  a  Raphael  I  might  give  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  landscape,  but  as  I  am,  even 
common  language  is  wanting  to  give  an  appro- 
priate description.  I  thought  it,  however, 
romantic,  and  truly  felt  more  than  my  tongue 
may  express.  O  what  a  pity  it  is  to  be  deficient 
of  Brain! 

Towards   evening   we   arrived   at   a   trading 

29 


post,  about  eight  miles  before  the  pass  of  Scotch 
Bluffs,  and  encamped  here  for  the  night. 

Sunday,  set  out  with  a  cloudy  sky  and  rain. 
It  soon,  however,  cleared  up  and  turned  into  a 
sunny  day.  We  approached  the  Scotch  Bluffs, 
which  we  saw  the  evening  before  golden  in  the 
light  of  the  setting  sun,  and  our  whole  attention 
was  attracted  by  the  grandeur  of  the  former,  still 
more  beautified  by  the  surrounding  country. 
The  appearance  of  these  sand  hills,  although 
from  far  off  like  solid  rock,  has  a  very  accurate 
resemblance  to  a  fortification  or  stronghold  of 
the  feudal  barons  of  the  middle  age,  of  which 
many  a  reminder  is  yet  to  be  met  with  along  the 
bank  of  the  Rhine.  The  rock  itself  is  separated 
nearly  at  its  middle,  having  a  pass  here  about 
fifty  to  sixty  feet  wide,  ascending  at  both  sides 
perpendicular  to  a  height  of  three  hundred  to 
four  hundred  feet.  The  passage  through  here 
was  only  made  possible  in  1851  and  is  now  pre- 
ferred by  nearly  all  the  emigrants,  cutting  off  a 
piece  of  eight  miles  from  the  old  road.  We 
passed  through  without  any  difficulty  and  after 
having  passed  another  blacksmith  shop  and 
trading  post,  which  are  very  numerous,  protec- 
tion being  secured  to  them  by  the  military 
down  at  Fort  Laramie,  we  encamped  for  the 
night. 

We  arrived  at  Laramie  on  Tuesday  evening, 
a  day  sooner  than  we  calculated  to  get  there. 
The  Fort   is  situated  on  the  Laramie   River, 

30 


which  joins  with  the  Platte  about  two  miles 
below  the  Fort  and  about  one  hundred  yards 
below  the  bridge  for  crossing  of  which  we  were 
charged  two  hundred  dollars.  The  country 
around  the  fort  is  of  a  pleasing  aspect.  The  bluffs 
which  surround  it  slope  off  gradually  down 
into  the  valley,  through  which  the  river  of  the 
same  name  winds  in  the  most  lovely  curves, 
whose  margins  are  timbered  with  a  scattered 
growth  of  cottonwood  and  brush  of  various 
kinds.  The  Fort  consists  of  several  caserns  for 
the  subordinate  soldiers,  a  better  building  for 
the  captain,  a  powder  and  provision  magazine, 
a  hospital  open  to  the  broken-down  travelers 
who  wish  to  stop  there,  a  good  store  where  all 
articles  a  man  wants  in  civilized  countries  or 
on  the  plains  can  be  bought.  The  garrison  dis- 
posed here  is  of  a  small  number — from  fifty  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty,  which  number  although 
small,  is  sufficient  to  keep  down  any  unruly 
spirit  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  soil.  After 
getting  a  few  requisite  articles,  we  started  from 
our  encampment  near  the  Fort  for  the  black 
hills,  along  which  the  road  runs  on  towards  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

The  scenery,  after  passing  the  Fort  and  pro- 
ceeding a  few  miles  up  the  river,  assumes  quite 
a  different  aspect  from  that  which  we  have 
passed  before  the  Fort.  The  monotony  of  the 
prairie  land  disappears,  and  a  varied  highland 
scenery  is  offered  to  the  traveler.  The  road  leads 

31 


generally  over  the  bluffs  at  an  average  height  of 
about  seventy  to  one  hundred  feet  above  the  bed 
of  the  Platte  and  in  advancing  approaches 
sometimes  towards  the  Southwestern  mountain 
chain  with  the  Laramie  Peak,  whose  summit  is 
six  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  and  covered 
with  snow  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the 
year.  This  mountain  can  be  seen  at  a  distance 
of  one  hundred  miles.  We  have  first  sight  of  it 
at  the  Scotch  Bluff,  distant  about  that  far  from 
it.  Cones  or  little  craters  form  the  bulk  of  the 
mountain  and  give  it  a  romantic  appearance. 
The  Platte  River  above  the  Fort  Laramie  takes 
a  different  appearance  from  its  lower  course. 
The  low  fertile  land  through  which  it  runs  for 
nearly  seven  hundred  to  eight  hundred  miles  to 
its  mouth,  is  changed  into  a  highland  scene. 
Its  course  is  rapid  and  cut  through  the  solid 
granite  rocks  which  must  have  taken  many  a 
century  to  open  such  passes  and  to  such  an 
extent  as  we  met  in  this  part  of  our  journey. 
The  beauty  of  the  mountain  chain  is  greatly 
increased  by  the  scattered  trees  of  cedar  and 
pine  and  by  the  interruption  of  numerous 
streams  which  are  bordered  with  a  most  beau- 
tiful growth  of  cottonwoods  and  other  trees. 

June  twelfth.  AVe  left  the  river  about  noon 
and  ascended  for  the  whole  afternoon  up  the 
highest  bluffs  on  our  advance.  We  got  consid- 
erably molested  by  the  wind  which  blew  right 
in  our  faces   and   darkened   them   with   sand. 

32 


Meeting  a  spring  up  near  the  highest  point  of 
ascent  we  stopped  for  the  night.  Next  morning 
started  for  the  descent.  The  Blackhill  road 
comes  in  from  where  the  road  commences  tak- 
ing down  to  the  bottom.  We  passed  the  LePonds 
River,  at  the  foot  of  the  bluffs,  a  very  nice  stream, 
beautifully  treed  with  cottonwood.  About  four 
miles  forwards  on  the  road  we  passed  another 
creek  called  by  its  red  bank,  Red  Bank.  The 
whole  country  around  is  a  red  stratified  rock  of 
the  same  kind — being  iron  ore. 

June  fourteenth.  We  drove  about  ten  miles 
to-day,  passed  several  new  graves,  and  crossed 
three  small  creeks.  Toward  evening  we  en- 
camped two  miles  up  the  Little  Deer  Creek  to 
rest  our  cattle,  as  well  as  ourselves,  and  prepare 
for  ascending  the  Rocky  Mountains.  I  read 
several  pages  of  geology  treating  of  the  different 
classes  of  rocks,  their  respective  composition, 
position  and  the  circumstances  under  which 
the  process  of  protrusion  and  stratification  took 
place. 

The  fifteenth.  Some  of  our  men  killed  various 
kinds  of  game  on  the  bluffs  with  which  we  quite 
prepared  us  a  feast  adequate  to  all  luxuries  we 
ever  had  at  home. 

June  the  sixteenth.  We  took  a  new  start 
this  morning  for  the  future  of  our  journey. 
Leaving  Little  Deer  Creek,  we  struck,  after 
having  met  with  the  main  road,  the  river, 
along  the  banks  of  which  we  passed  all  day  and 

33 


towards  evening  encamped  within  reach  of  it. 
We  passed  Big  Deer  Creek  about  noon;  the 
country  around,  although  the  stream  is  of  quiet 
romantic  beauty,  is  very  barren,  offering  but 
little  pasture  to  the  emigrants'  teams. 

June  the  seventeenth.  This  morning  we 
started  for  the  ferry,  twenty-seven  miles  above 
Big  Deer  Creek.  We  arrived  at  the  river  about 
noon  and  got  across  again  three  or  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  where  we  left  the  other  side 
for  the  bluffs  and  encamped  about  four  miles 
onwards  on  the  road  from  the  Platte.  The 
ferry  at  this  place  is  carried  on  with  flat  boats 
which  are  fastened  to  ropes  spread  across  the 
river.  The  current  carries  them  from  one  shore 
to  the  other.  The  following  day  we  started  very 
early  in  the  morning,  ascended  Rattlesnake 
Hills,  very  rocky,  and  pursued  our  journey  this 
day  through  an  extremely  barren  section  of 
country,  the  soil  being  mainly  sand  without  any 
good  water  and  grass.  At  Willow  Springs 
twenty-six  miles  above  the  Platte  ferry  we  ar- 
rived towards  evening  and  put  up  for  the  night. 

Not  having  any  grass  at  all  we  started  very 
early  next  morning  intending  to  stop  wherever 
any  pasture  could  be  found.  Meeting  the  object 
of  our  wishes,  we  grazed  the  cattle  for  several 
hours.  Ponds  with  alkali  water  being  about, 
several  of  our  cattle  got  to  drink,  and  shortly 
after  our  start,  several  got  to  be  very  sick,  the 
alkali  beginning  to  operate.     We  gave  some  of 

34 


them  fat  bacon  and  some  vinegar  to  neutralize 
the  alkali,  which  had  the  best  wished  effects. 

The  country  passed  over  to-day  is  very  sandy 
and  dry,  offering  nothing  hardly  to  the  passing 
emigrants.  The  hills  which  range  along  this 
part  are  called  Blue  Hills,  probably  from  the 
growth  of  pines  with  which  they  are  planted. 

Sunday,  June  the  twentieth.  Proceeding  on- 
wards, we  came  to  the  Indian  Dance  Rock, 
called  so  by  Colonel  Fremont  in  1847.  This  rock 
is  a  huge  pile  of  granite  about  half  a  mile  in 
circumference  and  one  hundred-fifty  feet  high. 
Its  sides  are  decorated  with  numerous  names  of 
emigrants  who  passed  them  since  '49.  The  road 
leads  to  the  left  of  the  rock  along  the  river  and 
crosses  it  about  one  and  one-half  miles  from  the 
said  rock.  Five  miles  onwards,  passing  over  a 
very  sandy  road,  we  arrived  at  Devil's  Gate,  a 
precipice  between  the  perpendicular  walls  of 
which  the  Sweetwater  passed.  This  is  undoubt- 
edly the  most  interesting  sight  to  the  attentive 
traveler,  made  so  by  the  profound  deepness 
of  the  pass  and  the  stratse  of  ancient  rocks  laid 
open  to  the  view  of  the  naturalist.  The  rocks 
here  are  piled  up  in  a  strange  chaos,  consisting 
of  primary  (hypogene)  rocks  turned  up  on  their 
edges  in  a  nearly  perpendicular  position,  inter- 
mixed with  others  in  a  horizontal  and  vertical 
position.  The  descent  of  this  rock  is,  on  account 
of  its  steepness,  very  difficult  and  connected 
with  considerable  danger.   Too  great  precaution 

35 


can't  be  taken  by  explorers.  The  river  undergoes 
a  fall  of  nearly  ten  or  twelve  feet,  the  water 
running  very  rapidly  in  its  onward  bound  course. 
The  road  from  here  leads  more  or  less  along  the 
river  for  twenty-five  miles,  where  it  separates  in 
two,  one  crossing  the  river  and  the  other  takes 
over  the  bluffs.  This  latter  road  is  extremely 
sandy  and  as  heavy  a  pull  for  cattle  as  any  part 
of  the  road  we  have  passed.  Teams  that  have 
not  been  taken  proper  care  of,  generally  are 
lessened  here  by  several  of  them  breaking  down 
by  fatigue  and  feebleness. 

Traveling  onwards  we  struck  the  river  and 
passed  along  it  for  two  miles  where  we  ascended 
the  bluffs  again.  Viewing  the  surrounding 
country,  we  discovered  on  the  edges  of  the 
horizon  a  very  large  snow  clad  mountain,  its 
summit  nearly  hid  in  the  clouds,  and  its  sides 
shining  in  a  bedazzling  luster. 

June  the  twenty-third.  Rain  setting  in 
through  the  night,  we  were  obliged  to  take  a 
very  early  start.  The  alkali,  with  which  the 
ground  was  covered,  being  dissolved  by  the 
water,  might,  if  drunk  by  the  cattle,  have  some 
very  serious  effect.  Passing  the  bluffs,  nothing 
of  note  happened,  and  after  fourteen  miles 
traveling,  we  arrived  at  the  river  banks,  where 
we  stopped  to  feed  our  cattle  and  took  our  own 
repast.  Pasture  being  very  gloomy  here,  we 
left  for  our  afternoon's  journey.  After  crossing 
the  river  we  ascended  a  very  steep  hill,  very 

36 


stony  and  barren  ground,  the  road  leading 
down  towards  the  river,  where  it  turns  at  nearly 
a  square  angle,  and  ascends  another  very  steep 
hill.  The  descent  here  is  very  rapid  and  slopes 
off  into  the  Sweetwater  Valley.  Pursuing  our 
course  upwards,  we  met  with  some  good  pasture 
where  we  stopped  and  encamped  for  the  night. 
June  the  twenty-fifth.  Having  enjoyed  a 
good  night's  rest  and  taken  a  good  repast,  we 
started  with  our  cattle  pretty  well  filled  for  the 
bluffs.  This  mountain,  or  rather  tableland, 
about  three  to  four  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  river  or  six  to  seven  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  is  principally  com- 
posed of  aqueous  rocks  of  tertiary  formation, 
sand  and  gravel,  which  are  turned  up  here  in 
vertical  position,  the  upturned  edges  giving 
evidence  of  volcanic  action.  The  road  over  this 
rock,  of  course,  is  very  stony  and  hard,  difficult 
to  pass  over  for  the  cattle.  We  struck  a  branch 
of  the  Sweetwater  this  side  the  bluffs,  about 
fifteen  miles  from  where  we  ascended  them. 
The  weather  to-day  is  very  unpleasant,  heavy 
and  cold  showers  drenching  us  several  times. 
Meeting  with  no  grass  up  to  our  usual  stopping 
time,  we  drove  on  till  late  trying  to  make  the 
river,  where  we  expected  to  meet  with  some  good 
pasture.  At  our  arrival  there  we  found  the 
prospects  as  poor  as  previously  met  with. 
Stopped,  however,  and  the  next  morning  crossed 
for  the  last  time  the  Sweetwater. 

37 


The  weather  to-day,  although  the  road  led 
us  through  hills  covered  with  snow,  was  fair 
and  warm,  and  the  contrast  or  change  it  was 
from  yesterday,  made  the  travelers  the  more 
sensitive  to  it.  We  arrived  at  the  South  pass 
about  noon  and  stopped  to  take  dinner  at  the 
Pacific  Springs.  The  pass  goes  through  the  moun- 
tain gradually  so  that  when  the  traveler  arrives 
at  this  point  he  hardly  feels  satisfied  with  the 
reality.  The  country  along  here  is  extremely 
poor.  No  grass,  and  even  good  water  is  scarce. 
The  road  ascends  again  this  side  the  springs, 
and  continues  hilly  for  about  eighteen  miles, 
when  it  separates  in  two  branches,  the  Mormon 
road  going  off  in  a  South,  South-west,  the  Cali- 
fornia road  in  a  nearly  due  West  direction.  Our 
wagons  arriving  at  the  fork,  struck  without  any 
previous  consultation  with  the  company,  the 
Mormon  road.  Proceeding  onwards  we  forded 
the  Little  Sandy,  nine  miles  off  the  fork  and 
eight  and  one-half  miles  further  onwards  the 
Big  Sandy — both  pleasant  streams  with  a  lovely 
growth  of  willows  and  cottonwood.  We  en- 
camped this  side  the  bank  of  the  latter  stream 
where  there  was  good  pasture  for  our  cattle 
and  all  necessaries  for  our  own  comfort. 

June  twenty-sixth.  This  day  being  Sunday  and 
one  man  in  our  company  being  sick  and  in  rather 
poor  condition  to  travel,  we  stayed  all  day  and 
recruited  ourselves  and  our  oxen.  Nothing  hap- 
pened throughout  the  day  except  that  several 

38 


of  the  Snake  Indians  caught  squirrels  about  our 
neighborhood  and  paid  us  a  short  visit.  Towards 
evening,  read  several  passages  out  of  the  Bible 
and  argued  aboiit  the  vulgar  sentiment  and 
language  used  in  many  places. 

Monday  morning,  started  stout  and  hearty  on 
our  journey  and  have  just  arrived  again  after 
passing  over  about  eighteen  miles  of  highland  to 
the  Big  Sandy.  There  we  strike  this  stream  for  the 
last  time  and  are  making  now  for  Green  River, 
ten  miles  further  onwards.  About  five  miles 
from  our  starting  point  the  road  forks.  The 
upper  road  is  called  Kiney's  cut  off  and  joins 
with  Sapplett's  cut  off.  The  lower  branch 
strikes  the  Green  River,  which  is  on  account  of 
its  extreme  swiftness  very  hard  to  cross.  The 
fording  of  this  river  is,  by  a  good  ferry  carried 
on  by  Mormons,  very  much  facilitated.  Emi- 
grants crossing  here  at  the  beginning  of  the 
California  emigration  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
to  get  their  stock  across — numbers  of  them  lost 
their  lives  and  stock  both. 

Green  River  leads  into  the  Rocky  Mountains 
and  numerous  tributaries  are  flowing  into  it  on 
its  Southwesterly  course  where  it  pours  its 
waters  into  the  Colorado.  The  river  is  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  wide  and  con- 
siderably deep;  its  water  is  very  cold  from  its 
snowy  origin  and  runs  at  the  rate  of  five  to 
eight  miles  an  hour.  We  forded  the  river  on 
the  morning  of  the  twenty-ninth  and  followed 

39 


down  along  its  banks  for  eight  miles  in  a  South- 
eastern direction.  Took  then  the  bluffs  and 
traveled  on  Southwards  for  about  five  miles 
where  we  encamped  near  a  branch  of  the  river 
with  plenty  of  grass.  Although  snow  clad  moun- 
tains bordered  the  horizon  in  the  South  the 
weather  was  extremely  warm  and  what  made  it 
still  more  burdensome  were  the  myriads  of 
mosquitoes  which  molested  us  very  much,  yes 
extremely  so. 

Next  morning  we  traveled  onwards  five  miles 
from  our  last  camping  ground  and  crossed  a 
branch  of  the  Green  River,  on  the  other  side  of 
which  we  took  the  bluffs,  descending  several 
times  into  valleys  where  the  river  pursued  his 
ocean-bound  course.  After  striking  the  river 
the  last  time  about  ten  miles  from  where  we 
passed  the  branch  we  ascended  again  and  trav- 
eled on  in  a  Southwest  direction.  Meeting  a 
small  stream  of  water  here  about  five  miles 
distant  from  where  we  left  the  river,  we  en- 
camped for  the  night. 

July  first.  Left  this  encampment  after  having 
put  in  a  horrible  night  with  mosquitoes,  bound 
for  Fort  Bredger,  twenty  miles  from  this  spot. 
The  road  along  this  distance  is  hilly  and  stony, 
pasture  and  water  scarce,  scenery  poor  up  to 
where  we  have  sight  of  the  Fort  which  is  located 
in  a  beautiful  valley  and  named  for  this  reason 
the  Garden  of  the  Mountains.  From  here  the 
road  gradually  ascends  a  ridge  and  on  the  lat- 

40 


ter,  about  five  miles  this  side  the  Fort,  we  en- 
camped for  the  night.  Cedar  trees  growing 
spontaneously  here,  we  had  plenty  wood  for 
cooking  use  and  good  pasture  for  the  cattle. 

The  road  from  now  covers  very  hilly  country 
over  high  ridges  and  deep  valleys  with  very 
steep  ascents  and  descents,  therefore  very  hard 
for  our  teams.  Proceeding  onwards  we  met  some 
most  lovely  and  beautiful  sights  of  natural 
beauty  and  but  the  hum  of  rural  life  would  be 
necessary  to  make  it  a  second  Eden-  To  give 
an  adequate  idea  of  the  beauty  of  this  country 
none  but  a  Byron  or  some  other  passionate 
writer  can  do.  I,  however,  add  that  the  high 
going  sea  appears  to  have  the  most  resemblance 
to  this  interrupted  bottom.  The  soil  which 
covers  the  most  of  these  mountains  is  very  spon- 
taneous (fertile),  the  most  so  in  the  bottoms. 
The  mountains  themselves  are  a  deposit  of  water, 
the  greatest  number  of  them  lately  by  then- 
abrupt  form  and  to  my  view  are  gravity  rocks, 
cemented  together  by  some  binding  matter. 
The  formations  of  many  of  these  rocks  offer 
quite  a  picturesque  view  as  we  pass  by.  Caves 
and  tunnels  of  all  shapes  are  carved  into  them 
by  the  dissolving  power  of  water.  Towards 
noon  to-day  after  having  p*^***)  many  ups  and 
downs,  we  arrived  at  the  highest  point  between 
the  States  and  Salt  Lake,  T^ie  height  of  this 
ridge  is  seven  thousand,  seven  hundred  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea  and  is  the  dividing 

41 


ridge  between  the  Colorado  and  the  water  of 
the  great  basin.  From  this  point  on  we  descended 
more  or  less  and  having  arrived  in  the  valley 
we  traveled  on  about  sixteen  miles  to  the  Sul- 
phur Springs  where  we  encamped  for  the  night. 
Next  day  our  road  continued  over  the  same 
interrupted  ground.  About  two  miles  from  our 
last  camp  forwards  on  the  road  we  arrived  at 
Bear  River  which  we  crossed  with  some  difficulty 
and  went  on  to  Echo  Creek  meeting  on  our  road 
some  Indians  who  traded  us  venison  for  powder 
and  beads.  Here  we  stopped  for  the  night 
and  after  we  got  our  breakfast  next  morning, 
July  the  fourth,  we  followed  the  river  down 
twenty  miles,  crossing  it  seventeen  times  in 
this  distance.  This  valley  along  which  the 
road  leads  is  very  narrow  bordered  on  both  sides 
with  high  mountains  of  gravelly  composition 
closely  cemented  together.  The  valley  runs  in 
a  nearly  Southern  direction  and  runs  on  to  where 
Echo  Creek  joins  the  Webber  River,  a  stream 
about  the  size  of  Bear  River.  We  crossed  the 
river  Sunday  towards  evening  and  went  onwards 
several  miles  of  nearly  steady  descent  from  the 
top  of  a  hill  which  we  had  previously  ascended 
to  a  creek  along  which  we  traveled  about  twelve 
miles  crossing  it  thirteen  times — crossings  very 
bad.  After  we  had  the  last  crossing  we  com- 
menced to  climb  a  very  difficult  ascent.  At 
the  top  of  the  latter,  four  miles  from  the  base 
to  the  high   point,   the   road   leads  down   hill 

42 


again.  Echo  Creek  which  heads  on  this  side  of 
the  mountains  runs  on  to  the  city.  The  road 
leads  alongside  of  it,  crossing  it  some  twenty 
times.  We  traveled  on  till  three  o'clock  when 
we  struck  the  foot  of  a  mountain  three  miles  this 
side  of  town  and  encamped  for  the  night. 

The  Salt  Lake  Valley  is  built  by  high  moun- 
tains whose  summits  reach  into  the  clouds, 
forming  with  its  craggy  sides  a  picturesque  and, 
joined  with  the  beauty  of  the  valley,  a  lovely 
scene.  The  valley  is  thirty  miles  wide  and 
some  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  miles  long. 
Within  its  mountainous  enclosure  it  contains 
some  of  the  most  fertile  and  beautiful  country 
ever  looked  on  by  men.  The  Salt  Lake  which 
stretches  along  the  Valley  on  the  North  side  helps 
to  beautify  the  scene.  Beside  this  is  the  town 
itself  which  is  laid  out  in  practical  lots  consist- 
ing in  a  house  and  garden  lot,  the  latter  for  agri- 
cultural purposes.  The  houses,  about  one  thou- 
sand in  number,  are  built  of  mud,  dried  in  the 
sun  and  are  in  every  way  like  the  houses  in  the 
States.  The  people  to  the  number  of  about  six 
thousand  living  in  the  city  and  about  four  thou- 
sand in  different  counties  of  the  valley  are 
Mormons.  Although  their  creed  contains  a 
great  many  foolish  things,  they  have  in  some  of 
their  social  arrangements  the  advantage  over  us 
and  the  traveler  passing  through  Salt  Lake 
Valley  and  seeing  everything  working  harmoni- 
ously together  as  nature  itself  cannot  help  but 

43 


think  them,  more  so,  if  he  looks  upon  the  crops 
which  nature  spontaneously  produces  here,  a 
happy  and  nearly  independent  people.  One  of 
the  precepts  of  their  faith,  Polygamy,  although 
generally  used  as  a  reproach  to  them,  I  person- 
ally admit  as  a  true  natural  one,  being  consis- 
tent with  nature.  Having  supplied  ourselves 
with  a  few  more  necessaries  for  the  remainder 
of  the  trip  and  some  little  repairing  done  to  our 
teams,  we  left  the  city  intending  to  stop  at  some 
good  pasture  place  in  the  valley.  On  the  road 
which  runs  on  along  through  town  towards  the 
North  we  met  with  the  Hot  Spring  at  the  left 
of  the  road.  This  Spring  comes  out  of  the  sur- 
rounding mountains,  being  of  nearly  boiling 
heat  and  containing  in  it  diluted  a  high  percent- 
age of  sulphur. 

The  weather  to-day  is  very  hot  and  oppres- 
sive, being  the  more  burdensome  on  account  of 
my  not  being  well,  having  previously  been  weak- 
ened by  sickness.  Eight  miles  from  here,  to 
the  left  we  espied  good  grass  and  a  stream  of 
water,  where  we  encamped  and  stopped  there  for 
the  next  two  days.  While  lying  here  I  took  sick 
again,  being  a  relapse  of  my  former  illness  of 
dysentery.  In  applying  though  some  of  Dr. 
Dickson's  pills  and  some  other  strong  mixture 
besides  this,  I  stopped  it  and  I  am  fully  con- 
vinced to-day  that  by  paying  a  little  precau- 
tion to  diet  I  shall  get  well  and  strong  again. 

We  left  our  camp  on  Saturday,  the  tenth  day 

44 


of  July,  traveling  along  a  high  mountain  range 
through  the  valley  for  about  sixteen  miles, 
crossing  in  this  distance  several  small  creeks 
bordered  with  willows  and  aspens.  A  great  part 
of  the  country  is  well  cultivated  and  loaded 
with  a  heavy  crop  of  wheat,  some  corn  and 
luxurious  meadows,  the  latter  rivalling  any  I 
ever  saw  before  in  any  country.  This  evening 
we  encamped  at  a  small  streamlet  about  twenty- 
five  miles  from  the  city.  Grass  very  scarce,  all 
other  things  however  easy  to  be  got.  From 
houses  being  about  here,  we  had  plenty  of  milk 
and  butter. 

Sunday  the  eleventh.  Started  late,  many  of 
the  company  having  not  got  used  to  our  former 
speedy  proceeding  yet.  Drove  over  some 
sandy  roads  through  desert  country  to  the 
Webber  river,  which  we  had  crossed  just  a  week 
ago  in  its  upper  course.  The  river  being  in  a 
low  state,  we  forded  it  ourselves  without  any 
difficulty  and  stopped  three  miles  on  the  other 
side  of  it,  where  we  caught  up  with  a  wagon 
of  our  company  that  had  left  us  at  the  city. 

Monday,  July  the  twelfth.  This  morning  the 
road  led  through  brush  and  high  grass  onto  a 
second  bank  along  which  we  travelled  the  whole 
day,  passing  numerous  farms  on  the  lower  side 
of  the  road  and  crossing  several  creeks  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  day.  To  the  right  of  the  road 
runs  a  mountain  chain  about  one  thousand  to 
one  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  level 

45 


of  the  lake,  its  sides  as  well  as  summit  ornament- 
ed with  a  lovely  growth  of  cedars  and  some  of 
its  crevices  filled  with  snow.  This  evening  we 
struck  camp  three  miles  this  side  of  Grazing 
Creek  where  we  laid  till  next  morning  to  pro- 
ceed no  further  on  our  journey. 

This  day,  the  road  crossed  several  creeks,  the 
first,  Grazing,  and  five  miles  onward  from  this, 
Box  Elder — further  on,  several  small  creeks  and 
springs  so  that  we  had  abundance  of  water  all 
day.  At  Box  Elder,  we  left  the  settlement,  and 
pursued  our  course  again  on  the  Desert  where 
our  former  contest  with  hardships  and  priva- 
tions began  from  now  on  for  the  remaining 
journey.  We  traveled  to-day  twenty  miles 
from  Willow  Creek  and  encamped  at  a  Spring 
five  miles  this  side  of  Bear  River.  This  stream  we 
crossed  next  day  early  in  the  morning  paying 
four  hundred  dollars  ferriage  and  proceeded  on- 
wards. From  here  we  had  as  hard  times  as  we 
ever  saw  on  the  plains  arising  from  our  want  of 
good  water  for  thirty-six  miles  which  latter 
circumstance  with  the  extreme  heat  was  very 
hard  on  us  and  the  cattle.  We  arrived  at  the 
end  of  the  above  mentioned  distance  about  noon 
the  next  day  at  Hensols  Spring  where  we 
stopped  and  refreshed  ourselves  with  some  good 
cold  water.  The  road  along  this  distance  leads 
over  a  very  hilly  and  dry  country  which  on 
this  latter  account  disappoints  the  choking 
emigrant  extremely,  expecting  at  every  roll  to 

46 


have  in  sight  some  fountain  to  revive  the  ex- 
hausted energies. 

Six  miles  further  we  struck  Deep  Creek, 
running  on  the  North  side  of  the  valley  until 
where  the  road  strikes  the  valley,  where  it 
turns  toward  the  South  and  about  six  miles 
downward  it  sinks  in  the  ground.  At  this  place, 
called  Deep  Creek  Sink  we  arrived  next  day 
and  our  cattle  being  worked  down  and  their 
feet  being  sore,  the  company  again  decided  to 
stay  here  and  rest  them  as  well  as  recruit  our- 
selves somewhat. 

July  sixteenth.  We  left  our  last  encampment 
at  the  sink  and  proceeded  downwards  for  the 
Pilot  Springs  where  we  intended  to  water  the 
cattle.  The  country  begins  here  to  get  poorer, 
pasture  becoming  extremely  scarce  now,  hardly 
to  be  found  on  creeks  and  around  slews  and  then 
only  a  good  way  up  or  down  stream. 

Seventeen  miles  from  Deep  Creek  Sink  at 
some  Springs  in  the  side  of  a  hill  we  met  with 
good  pasture  and  although  still  early  in  the 
day,  we  stopped  there  and  lay  till  morning. 
Cedar  trees  and  sage  bushes  are  all  the  vegeta- 
tion to  be  seen  in  this  region  and  the  journey 
on  this  account  is  monotonous  and  tiresome. 
The  road  from  here  takes  over  a  hill  from  which 
can  be  seen  for  the  last  time  the  Salt  Lake  with 
its  blue  waters  and  its  mountain  high  islands 
which  with  the  surrounding  hills  offers  quite  a 
picturesque  view  to  the  observer. 

47 


About  eight  miles  from  Mountain  Springs 
onwards  we  came  to  Stony  Creek,  a  mountain 
stream  whose  water  is  more  or  less  made  up  of 
melted  snow  and  ice  and  is  very  cold,  therefore 
very  much  relished  by  travelers.  From  Stony 
Creek  to  the  Casus  Creek,  distant  about  eight 
miles,  the  country  continues  very  poor  having 
nothing  but  wild  sage  and  cedars  on  the  bluffs. 
Casus  Creek  is  a  small  stream  bordered  like 
all  the  creeks  in  this  country  with  willows,  the 
latter  from  the  thick  bunches  in  which  they 
stand,  a  hiding  place  to  the  Indians.  Pasture 
along  this  Creek  is  plenty,  therefore  good  camp- 
ing here.  The  road  follows  up  the  Creek  about 
eight  miles  and  crosses  it  in  this  distance  three 
times,  the  middle  ford  being  considerable  miry 
when  we  passed. 

Leaving  Casus  Creek  the  road  ascends  grad- 
ually towards  a  high  situated  point  about  five 
miles,  where  it  joins  with  the  cut  off  roads,  three 
hundred  and  seventy  miles  West  from  the  forks 
of  the  main  road. 

Coming  up  towards  the  summit  of  the  hill  we 
hove  in  sight  of  the  City  Rocks,  being  numerous 
rocks  of  all  sizes  and  shapes  piled  up  so  on  the 
slope  of  a  mountain  towards  North  West  which 
resembled  in  appearance  a  city  at  a  distance 
built  on  the  side  of  a  hill.  From  here  the  road 
descends  down  into  a  valley  about  five  or  six 
miles  long  with  several  small  creeks  which  were, 
however,  dry  when  we  passed  them.    Ascending 

48 


the  hills  on  the  West  side  of  the  valley  we  met 
with  some  water  to  the  left,  running  down 
parallel  with  the  road,  and  traveling  on  a  mile 
further  struck  its  head,  consisting  of  several 
good  cold  springs.  Next  morning  we  started 
on  our  road  which  on  account  of  many  sliding 
rocks  was  very  difficult  and  extremely  hard  on 
cattle.  These  hills  are  called  Gooth  Creek 
Mountains,  running  along  a  stream  called  the 
same  name.  Their  forms  and  shapes  are  very 
various  and  mostly  composed  of  aqueous  rocks 
in  parallel  stratas.  Five  miles  traveling  over 
this  interrupted  ground  brought  us  into  the 
Gooth  Creek  Valley  which  we  followed  up 
eighteen  miles — the  roads  good  and  grass  plenty. 
The  valley  along  the  upper  course  of  the  Gooth 
Creek  narrows;  the  mountains  forming  the 
valley  are  steep  and  composed  of  some  granular 
gravel.  Small  sharp  edged  rocks  are  scattered 
all  along  the  road  and  are  very  hard  on  catties' 
feet. 

At  the  head  of  Gooth  Creek  we  met  a  good 
spring  coming  out  from  under  the  rocks.  The 
water  is  cold  and  the  weather  being  very  hot 
we  relished  it  very  much.  From  here  the  road 
leaves  the  Gooth  Creek  Valley  and  continues 
over  a  mountainous,  rocky  and  very  barren 
country  to  the  Rock  Spring  Valley.  At  the  head 
of  it  to  the  right  are  several  cold  springs  coming 
like  the  one  spring  at  the  head  of  Gooth  Creek 
from  under  a  rocky  ledge.     Grass  around  this 

49 


spring  is  little  or  none.  Following  the  road, 
however,  for  about  four  miles  further,  grass 
became  plentiful  and  more  so  toward  the  head 
of  the  valley.  Crossing  several  ridges,  we  de- 
scended into  Thousand  Spring  Valley,  so  called 
in  consequence  of  the  numerous  Springs  some 
of  very  high  temperature;  others  are  mere  cold 
wells  of  considerable  depth.  The  road  leads 
here  along  the  valley  ten  miles  and  pasture  was 
real  good. 

July  the  twenty-fourth.  Friend  and  compan- 
ion Logan  died  this  morning  at  five  o'clock. 
Logan,  a  partner  in  our  team,  took  sick  very  sud- 
denly about  noon  this  day  about  two  miles 
this  side  Hot  Springs.  Driving  on  some  few 
miles  after  noon,  the  disease  came  on  in  a  very 
serious  manner  so  that  we  were  obliged  to  stop 
and  camp.  His  strength  failed  rapidly  and 
cramps  in  all  his  parts  caused  him  very  aggra- 
vating pains.  Getting  worse  and  worse  and 
medical  help  having  no  effect  on  him  we  finally 
concluded  that  although  unsuspected  and  how- 
ever sudden  he  would  go  home  to  his  Father. 
Living  on  till  sunrise  next  day,  he  died  about 
five  o'clock  in  the  morning  after  a  sickness  of 
seventeen  hours.  This  then  is  human  life — to 
live,  to  eat,  to  propagate  and  die.  We,  from  this 
eventful  place  which  we  left  after  interring  the 
deceased,  proceeded  over  a  long  ridge  which, 
sloping  upon  the  other  side  and  ascending  again, 
gradually   descended,   taking   us   a   stretch   of 

SO 


twenty  miles  into  the  Humbolt  Valley,  the 
mountains  of  the  same  name  being  in  view 
covered  with  the  everlasting  snows.  We  fol- 
lowed down  the  valley  about  eighteen  miles 
and  camped  on  the  North  Branch  of  Mary's 
River  about  three  miles  from  where  we  forded  it. 

July  twenty-sixth.  The  road  from  the  ford 
of  the  North  Branch  runs  along  a  beautiful 
valley  to  where  it  joins  the  South  Fork  of 
Mary's  River,  twenty  miles  below  the  above 
mentioned  point.  Grass  along  this  valley  is 
more  plentiful  than  any  other  place  we  found 
along  the  whole  route.  The  water,  although  not 
very  cool,  is  good.  From  the  junction  of  the 
two  forks,  another  valley  commences,  the  river 
following  it  down  for  twenty-eight  miles.  At 
this  point  the  road  leaves  the  river  for  the 
bluffs  after  having  previously  come  to  the 
forks  of  the  road,  crossed  the  river  four  times 
within  six  miles  and  followed  it  down  about 
ten  miles  further  to  a  small  tributary  of  Mary's 
River. 

From  here  when  we  started  early  next  morn- 
ing, we  had  to  travel  over  a  section  of  moun- 
tains pretty  steep  and  stony.  Descending  on 
the  other  side  of  these  hills  we  met  with  several 
good  springs  on  the  road  side  and  finally  after 
a  tedious  forenoon's  drive  we  struck  the  river 
again  twenty  miles  from  where  we  left  it  last. 
The  roads  along  here  being  very  sandy  and  so 
many  teams  passing  ours  it  raises  any  amount 

51 


of  dust  which  is  very  disagreeable  to  emigrants 
and  hard  on  cattle.  We  followed  the  river  for 
four  miles  when,  finding  good  grass,  we  camped 
for  the  night.  Twenty  miles  further  down  stream 
the  main  road  takes  to  the  right  over  the  bluffs, 
another  road  crosses  the  river  and  follows  down 
on  the  South  side.  The  latter  road  is  preferred 
in  low  water,  being  the  best  and  shortest  as 
well  as  having  most  grass  on  this  side  of  Hum- 
bolt.  About  forty  miles  onwards  where  we 
forded  the  stream  it — the  road — takes  up  over 
a  rough  hill  leaving  the  river  at  the  ascent  and 
coming  to  it  again  at  the  descent,  about  two 
miles  distant. 

August  the  second.  From  this  point  the  road 
takes  over  a  hill  about  five  miles  long  when  it 
descends  into  the  valley  again.  Pasture  along 
here  is  poor,  the  bottom  being  mostly  over- 
grown with  sage.  Although  grass  is  scarce,  for 
the  whole  journey  the  careful  emigrants  can 
always  find  sufficient  feed  for  their  cattle. 

The  road  follows  down  the  valley  in  a  parallel 
direction  with  the  river  for  about  twenty  miles 
where  it  turns  on  an  obtuse  angle  and  runs  off 
in  a  Southwest  direction.  Here  the  road  takes 
over  low  sandy  hills  and  along  the  banks  of 
the  river  alternately.  Twenty  miles  from  our 
starting  point,  we  encamped  on  the  river 
banks. 

August  the  fifth.  Ascended  a  hill  about  one- 
half  mile  on  from  our  camp,  pretty  steep  and 

52 


sandy.  The  road  continues  this  way  all  along 
for  about  twenty  miles  more  where  it  takes 
the  bluffs  for  eighteen  miles  through  a  sandy 
desert  about  three  or  four  miles  parallel  with 
the  river.  In  the  evening  after  a  hard  day's 
drive,  we  struck  the  river  but  did  not  meet  with 
any  grass  which  our  starved  animals  badly 
needed.  The  following  day  we  ascended  the 
bluffs  again  for  another  eighteen  miles  desert 
having  no  grass  nor  water  for  the  teams.  Leav- 
ing, however,  the  main  road  and  taking  towards 
the  river  we  got  near  enough  to  water  our  cattle, 
after  which  we  drove  on  about  four  miles  further 
and  struck  the  river  again  finding  tolerable 
good  grass.  Next  day  we  started  for  the  mead- 
ows and  sink  of  Humbolt  River.  The  distance 
to  the  former  being  about  fifteen  miles,  roads 
bad,  both  sandy  and  hilly,  no  grass  between, 
river  handy  enough  in  some  places  to  water 
the  stock. 

Saturday  evening  we  arrived  at  the  meadows, 
our  teams  weakened  from  want  of  grass  and 
several  days'  hard  pulling.  From  here  to  the 
edge  of  the  desert  it  is  about  twenty-five  miles 
which  we  made  in  three  days,  recruiting  our 
stock,  making  grass  and  taking  on  water. 

Thursday  afternoon,  about  three  o'clock,  we 
started  with  seven  head  of  cattle  and  one  horse, 
all  of  them  in  fair  condition, 'for  the  desert — a. 
distance  of  forty  miles  without  water  and  grass, 
hilly  and  sandy  roads.  Thousands  of  dead  cattle 

53 


were  lying  along  this  road  which  had  gone  out 
at  the  previous  emigration.  One  of  our  oxen 
gave  out,  detaining  us  for  several  hours.  Slay- 
ing the  latter  however,  we  arrived  safe  although 
a  very  close  call  at  Carson  River.  Here  people 
from  California  have  put  up  their  shops,  hav- 
ing liquor  and  fixtures  for  sale  for  the  emigrants 
at  high  prices.  Grass  being  scarce  here  we 
started  up  the  river  about  five  miles.  Being 
about  camping  time  and  our  cattle  very  tired 
we  stopped  for  the  night. 

From  here  we  started  the  next  morning  hav- 
ing about  five  miles  ahead  a  desert  of  thirteen 
miles.  Before  we  started  into  the  latter,  we 
stopped  and  fed  the  teams  for  a  few  hours, 
then  started  on  the  said  desert  and  the  footers, 
among  which  I  was,  traveled  up  along  the  river, 
being  higher  and  more  pleasant  than  the  main 
road.  At  the  point  where  the  latter  strikes  the 
river  again  we  found  good  company  which  in- 
duced us  to  stop  for  the  night,  grass  for  our 
stock  being  plenty.  From  here  the  road  takes 
over  the  bluffs,  being  sandy  again  as  the  day 
before  and  the  country  as  poor  as  the  deserts. 
Twelve  miles'  traveling  took  us  to  the  river 
where  we  stopped  and  nooned.  From  here  the 
road  gets  to  be  stony  and  sidling,  hard  on 
wagons  and  teams,  leading  over  undulating 
ground  all  along.  About  twenty-five  miles 
further  ahead  the  road  takes  over  a  hill,  a 
perfect  desert.     To  the  left  of  this  is  mining 

54 


carried  on  in  a  Canyon.  Although  it  does  not  / 
pay  as  well  as  some  mines  in  California,  still 
it  allows  fair  wages  to  the  diggers.  Some  of 
us,  among  them  myself,  would  have  stopped 
and  dug  here  but  for  certain  bondages  which 
we  could  not  get  rid  of  without  injuring  our 
pecuniary  interest. 

The  distance  here  from  the  river  to  it  again 
is  thirteen  miles,  roads  tolerably  good.  In  the 
afternoon  of  this  day  (Sunday)  we  traveled 
over  another  sandy  plain  to  the  river,  eight 
miles,  where  we  camped  over  night  and  started 
Monday  morning  all  hearty  and  well.  During 
the  day's  travel  we  passed  a  good  many  trad- 
ing posts,  crossing  numerous  mountain  streams 
with  good  cold  water.  Grass  along  here  is 
plenty  so  that  stock  as  well  as  men  do  well  in 
this  valley.  Another  day's  travel  will  take  us 
to  the  foot  of  the  Canyon  which  we  ascend  to 
take  us  to  Hope  Valley.  To-day  at  noon  we 
arrived  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Canyon  where 
we  stopped  for  noon.  Leaving  this  place  we 
intend  to  ascend  the  ravine  in  the  afternoon. 

We  took  into  the  Canyon  on  the  morning  of 
the  eighteenth  and  ascending  it  we  met  the 
worst  road  on  the  whole  route  being  both 
rocky  and  steep  and  extremely  hard  on  cattle 
and  wagons.  The  whole  Canyon  is  sown  with 
rocks  (metamorphic  species)  thrown  there  in 
chaos  by  volcanic  eruption  and  offers  to  the 
travelers   with   its   steep  pine  clad  mountains 

55 


one  of  those  grand  scenes  of  nature  which  are 
only  met  with  in  mountainous  or  volcanic 
countries.  Five  or  eight  miles  of  the  hardest 
traveling  brought  us  into  Hope  Valley  at  the 
other  side  of  the  Canyon  which  we  followed  up 
to  where  the  road  takes  the  hills  again  and 
finding  at  this  point  some  excellent  pasture  we 
encamped. 

AYe  left  our  last  night's  camp  where  we  suf- 
fered considerably  by  the  cold  and  started  to 
ascend  the  first  of  the  mountains  of  the  Nevada. 
The  ascent  is  gradual  for  several  miles  till  the 
road  comes  to  red  rock  where  it  takes  a  sudden 
ascent  for  about  one-half  mile  being  very  steep 
and  rocky  and  undoubtedly  constitutes  with 
the  yesterday's  passed  Canyon  the  greater  part 
of  the  elephant  which  will  be  finished  tomorrow 
by  the  steepest  and  highest  ascent  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada.  Up  this  mountain  we  doubled  teams 
and  our  wagons  being  light  we  arrived  safely 
at  the  summit  about  seven  thousand  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  Grass  being  scarce  here  we 
descended  about  four  miles  on  the  other  side  of 
the  mountain  into  a  valley  where  we  found  some 
good  feed  along  the  lake  shore. 

August  twentieth.  Started  for  the  ascent  of 
the  last  and  highest  mountain  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  taking  first  over  a  mountain  of  five 
hundred  to  one  thousand  feet  in  height  which 
brought  us  to  the  foot  of  the  last  mountain, 
we  began  our  ascent,  but  though  it  was  very 

56 


stony  and  high,  we  had  less  difficulty  in  pass- 
ing over  it  than  the  one  we  ascended  the  day 
before.  I  myself  arrived  at  the  summit  about 
ten  o'clock  where  I  disposed  of  our  horse  which 
had  caused  me  a  good  deal  of  trouble.  This  done 
I  took  a  view  of  the  country  around  me.  I 
always  fancied  to  myself  that  the  beauties  of 
the  mountainous  countries  were  grand  and 
sublime  but  never  could  I  fully  imagine  such 
a  vast  and  chaotic  beautiful  scene  as  I  found 
here.  The  whole  mountains  are  made  up  of 
metamorphic  rocks,  thrown  here  by  volcanic 
causes.  The  mountains  which  extend  around 
you,  standing  at  the  summit  to  the  edge  of 
the  horizon  are  interrupted  by  alpine  valleys 
filled  with  beautiful  meadows  and  lakes  of 
cold  mountain  water  which  help  to  make  the 
grand  scene  of  the  mountains  lovely  and  rural 
to  the  observer. 

We  passed  over  the  summit  and  drove  on 
this  day  over  mountain  ridges  and  encamped 
at  night  at  about  the  same  level  as  we  traveled 
over  in  the  afternoon,  finding  some  grass  and 
water  on  the  mountain  side. 

The  following  day  took  up  the  fork  of  the 
road,  the  one  to  the  right  taking  to  Hangtown, 
the  left  hand  one  to  Volcano.  The  distance 
from  the  fork  to  the  latter  place  is  about  thirty- 
five  miles,  very  hilly  and  extremely  dusty,  grass 
and  water  scarce — from  ten  to  twenty  miles 
apart  in  the  valleys. 

57 


We  arrived  at  Volcano  August  twenty-third 
and  sold  our  stock  the  next  day  for  the  sum  of 
three  hundred  dollars,  making  my  share  with 
our  previous  receipt  for  horse  and  one  yoke  of 
cattle,  eighty-seven  dollars  and  subtracting  this 
from  the  whole  of  my  expense  leaves  me  ninety 
dollars  debit  to  the  journey. 

At  Volcano  is  the  first  mining  district  met 
this  side  the  Nevada  and  provisions  being  tol- 
erable cheap  and  some  of  the  digging  middling 
favourable  some  five  of  us  concluded  to  stay 
here  a  while  and  try  our  luck. 

Sunday,  August  twenty-ninth.  We  went  to 
work  the  second  day  from  our  arrival  and  sunk 
a  shaft  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  deep  at  which 
depth  we  struck  a  lead  paying  us  about  eight 
to  ten  cents  to  the  ton.  Water  which  we  hap- 
pened to  strike  got  to  be  very  troublesome, 
keeping  us  back  considerably  in  our  proceeding 
to  get  out  the  pay  dirt  for  washing.  All  we  earned 
up  to  the  present  is  about  four  dollars.  We 
calculate  however  to  make  more  next  week  if 
we  keep  on  at  work  steady  and  keep  our  health.1 

Evidently  a  journal  was  kept  during  eighteen  hundred 
and  fifty-three  which  has  been  lost. 


58 


Ill 

LAST  YEARS  IN  CALIFORNIA 
RETURN  TO  THE  EAST 


Ill 

LAST  YEARS  IN  CALIFORNIA— RETURN  TO 
THE  EAST 

April  twenty -ninth,  eighteen  hundred  and 
fifty-four. 

Several  weeks  have  elapsed  since  closing  my 
last  journal  to  the  present  date  of  this  entry, 
and  longer  still  this  interval  might  have  been 
but  for  sickness,  which  keeps  me  from  my  daily 
task  and  compels  me  to  pass  the  hours  of  ennui 
and  solitude  by  such  means  as  circumstances 
afford.  Among  these  means,  reading  is  my  fav- 
orite occupation  if  the  subject  of  it  is  attractive 
and  pleasing  and  one  main  reason  that  my  diary 
is  not  more  regularly  kept  is  because  it  is  easier 
to  read  the  productions  of  others'  minds  than 
to  make  efforts  for  a  similar  purpose  ourselves. 
The  efforts  I  am  going  to  make  are  not  to  be 
compared  to  the  writing  of  fictitious  works,  nor 
still  less  scientific  essays  but  are  simply  to  note 
down  the  most  important  occurrences  of  my 
career — a  few  abrupt  ideas  of  my  own  and  other 
men  and  some  remarks  upon  the  political  and 
moral  affairs  of  the  world. 

Well  then,  to  begin.  I  am  at  present  as  al- 
ready stated,  compelled  by  sickness  to  stop  in 
the  house  for  an  uncertain  period  of  time  which, 
however,  I  ardently  hope  may  not  fetter  me 

61 


like  the  criminal  to  his  cell  longer  than  nature 
may  possibly  require  to  heal  the  diseased  part 
of  my  body.  This  is  a  sore  ankle,  caused  by  the 
rubbing  of  the  seams  of  a  boot,  which,  as  un- 
doubtedly a  muscle  or  nerve  was  hurt,  affects 
the  whole  system  and  gives  me  a  good  deal  of 
pain.  These  things  will,  however,  always  happen 
and  always  by  our  own  fault  or  carelessness — 
at  least  this  is  my  case.  Having  this  conviction 
one  must  try  to  take  it  as  patiently  as  possible. 

Although  rain  in  April  is  rather  a  rarity,  still, 
we  had  several  showers  within  the  last  week 
or  so  and  a  very  wet  night  and  forenoon  today. 
This  is  a  great  benefit  to  the  country,  both  to 
the  vegetable  and  auriferous  world.  The  former 
it  animates  while  the  water  channels  which  it 
swells  assist  the  miner  in  procuring  the  latter — 
ore.  I  have  been  tolerable  successful  for  the 
last  three  months,  averaging  about  five  dollars 
per  day  with  prospects  of  continuing  so  as  long 
as  may  be  water  for  our  supply.  The  troubled 
state  of  our  company  has  temporarily  subsided. 
Which  fact  is  more  to  be  ascribed  to  the  just 
mentioned  success  than  to  an  alleviation  of 
the  antagonistic  elements  prevailing  among  us. 
This  however  is  not  looked  for  by  myself,  nor 
does  it  matter  any  in  this  case  what  the  cause 
is,  as  long  as  the  effect  is  good. 

Monday  morning,  May  first,  eighteen  fifty- 
four.  The  merry  blooming  month  of  May  has 
arrived   and   nature,    shaking   off   the    drowsi- 

62 


ness  of  Winter  appears  in  all  its  beauty  and 
splendor.  A  carpet  of  verdure  variegated  by 
the  innumerable  hues  and  shades  of  myriads 
of  flowers,  shrubs  and  trees,  spreads  over  the 
crust  of  reanimated  Mother  Earth — which  scen- 
ery, combined  with  the  beautiful  sky  of  a  Cali- 
fornia heaven,  grants  a  sublime  sight  to  the 
beholder  and  admirer  of  the  garden  of  nature. 
In  gazing  upon  these  fields,  hills  and  dales, 
all  in  their  bloom  and  vernal  beauty;  upon  the 
pure  sky  that  overspreads  and  adds  to  their 
grandeur — the  mind  gradually  loses  itself  in 
meditation  and  deep  thought.  Minor  objects 
lose  their  hold  upon  us  and  higher,  nobler 
sentiments  take  their  place.  In  such  sacred 
moments  the  empire  of  the  mind  reigns  and  we 
truly  live.  The  grand  and  wonderful  effect  of 
a  great  unknown  first  cause  meets  us  at  every 
side — and  while  admiring  the  former  we  won- 
der at  the  magnitude  and  goodness  of  the  latter. 
We  try  to  penetrate  the  darkness  which  veils 
that  unknown  from  our  sight  and  behold  the 
"prima  facie — till  now  only  known  by  its  reflec- 
tions. Besides  this  desire  to  find  and  look  upon 
the  omnipotent,  other  thoughts  and  images 
rise  before  our  mind's  eye.  While  looking  at 
some  green  and  blooming  spot,  moments  of 
the  past  or  rather,  recollections  associated 
with  those  gone-by  hours,  those  blooming 
fields,  crowd  in.  We  think  of  the  innocent  joys 
of  those  playfellows  that  loved  us,  of  a  kind 

63 


Mother  that  received  us  when  we,  flushed  and 
exhausted  arrived  home  to  refresh  and  rest  our- 
selves, who  would  lay  her  hand  upon  our  fore- 
head to  dry  the  perspiration  and  brush  aside 
our  hair  to  restore  our  infant  beauty,  and,  with 
those  benign  eyes  looking  upon  us,  would 
with  her  lips  which  always  were  so  fond  of 
kissing — express  her  fears  that  we  would  over- 
heat ourselves  and  take  sick.  I  would  begin  to 
cry  and  promise  to  be  more  careful  in  the  future. 
Yes,  these  are  recollections  which  will  cheer 
the  darkest  and  increase  the  fullness  of  the 
happiest  moments  of  our  life. 

May  nineteenth,  eighteen  fifty-four.  I  am 
well  once  more,  enjoying  the  blessedness  derived 
from  such  a  state.  I  have  just  returned  after  a 
day's  work  and  having  an  hour  to  spare  from 
this  to  dark  I  thought  to  dedicate  the  same  to 
scrawl  down  a  few  lines  in  these  memoirs. 

Although  this  is  early  May — the  middle  of 
Spring,  we  have  already  the  warmer  days  of 
August  and  the  ground  which  had  hardly  got 
a  good  soaking  during  Winter  is  dry  now  as 
ever  it  gets  in  our  Northern  States.  So  with 
the  vegetables.  The  flora  and  fauna  of  the 
country,  which  have  already  seen  their  in- 
fancy— although  now  everything  is  verdant  and 
budding — in  but  a  short  month  more  will 
pass  away  and  the  green  will  change  to  yellow, 
the  bud  to  the  ripened  fruit  and  all  nature  put 
on  the  attire  of  mellow  Fall,  and  be  finally  re- 

64 


&*<t^4*  J  gyV*  sT~~f         >£€^L~«J*^p  .  SCST  r/*^€  j^^t^ 
^ /&    <£*ts4ffc  est"  &f  ^      <r>  C>€^:€2^ZZ<i^\ 


•-^x-yT-^^.. 


/ 


suscitated  by  deluges  of  rain  which  pour  down 
in  Winter  in  this  country.  If  ever  by  some  nat- 
ural change  this  country  shall  be  blessed  by 
seasonable  rains  through  the  Summer,  it  will 
undoubtedly  exert  a  most  beneficial  influence 
upon  the  soil  of  the  land  and  make  agricultural 
business  more  permanent  and  profitable  and 
vastly  benefit  the  mining  community  and  make 
living  itself  more  pleasant  and  comfortable 
on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  There  is  a  certain 
fact  which  manifests  itself  in  new  settled  coun- 
tries— namely,  that  the  amount  of  rain  which 
falls  every  year  increases  in  proportion  to  the 
cultivation  and  irrigation  of  the  soil.  At  Salt 
Lake,  and  so  here,  when  settlers  first  arrived 
rain  was  hardly  known  to  fall  but  has  increased 
in  amount  every  year  since  that  period.  This 
is  a  fact  experience  has  taught  us  to  hold  true 
although  its  cause  is  hardly  known. 

The  merry  month  of  May  has  passed  away; 
June  holds  reign  over  prairie,  hills  and  dales. 
The  weather  in  general  is  just  warm  enough  to 
make  it  pleasant  to  work — which  in  itself  is 
pain  enough  without  having  it  doubled  by  ex- 
posure to  a  scorching  sun.  A  pleasant  breeze 
being  wafted  up  from  the  smooth  waters  of 
the  Pacific  moderates  the  climate  to  a  genial 
warmth  which  only  for  want  of  sufficient  rain 
would  be  as  beautiful  as  any  person  could  wish 
for.  But  from  a  want  of  this  infinitely  useful 
element  at  the  proper  season  of  the  year,  the 

65 


soil,  otherwise  fertile  produces  but  little  vege- 
tation. July  generally  sees  this  dying  off  for 
want  of  moisture.  Still  there  are  many  fertile 
spots  in  the  valleys  watered  by  mountain 
streams  which  intersect  the  country — heading 
in  the  snow  clad  mountains  and  pouring  their 
icy  waters  like  veins  into  the  heart  of  the  coun- 
try to  give  vigor  and  health  to  the  country  in 
their  proximity.  A  traveler  therefore  can  see 
in  one  day's  journey  and  less  both  the  budding 
and  refreshing  Spring  and  the  yellow  Autumn, 
the  former  in  the  valleys,  the  latter  in  the  higher 
parts  of  the  land.  It  is  on  highlands  that  these 
lines  are  written — with  a  valley  spread  at  the 
foot  of  it,  which  extends  to  the  Coast  Range 
of  mountains  whose  outlines  I  can  plainly  trace 
on  the  horizon  and  this  minute  its  highest 
peaks  stand  out  in  bold  relief,  illuminated  by 
the  setting  sun  close  upon  their  brow.  Ten 
minutes  more — they  will  hide  it  from  view 
where,  in  the  pacific  waters  of  the  broad  Ocean 
it  will  seek  a  resting  place  after  its  daily  journey 
through  the  heavens,  to  rise  with  new  splendor 
and  magnificence  in  the  morning.  To  many 
thousands  who  gaze  upon  the  rising  and  setting 
of  the  sun  its  movement  from  East  to  West  is 
still  a  great  mystery. 

September  twelfth,  eighteen  fifty-four.  Over 
three  months  have  passed  since  I  made  my  last 
entry  in  this  journal  and  not  only  have  I 
changed  my  residence  but  my  profession.     I 

66 


have  exchanged  the  miner  for  the  confinements 
of  the  Store  Room  to  which  I  intend  to  adhere 
in  the  future. 

July  and  August  passed  in  indolence  and 
mental  indifference.  It  is  but  a  few  days  back 
that  I  left  off  mining  and  find  myself  now 
comfortably  seated  in  my  store  writing  these 
notes.  This  place — French  Hill — is  within  one- 
half  mile  of  Camp  Secco  which  was  destroyed 
by  fire  about  three  weeks  ago,  which  however 
by  the  enterprise  of  its  inhabitants  is  rapidly 
building  up  and  this  time  is  an  improved  place. 
The  place  of  present  residence  is  rapidly  spring- 
ing up  into  a  little  village  as  yet  nameless 
from  its  recent  date  and  gives  fair  promise 
towards  a  prosperous  business.  That  this  may 
be  the  case  is  my  earnest  wish,  as  I  hope  to 
realize  if  no  unforeseen  mishaps  befall  me — 
enough  to  leave  California  for  a  better  home  far 
to  the  East. 

February,  eighteen  fifty-five.  Four  months 
have  passed  away  since  I  made  the  last  notes 
but  although  the  above  dates  indicate  the 
Winter  season  when  in  the  Eastern  States  snow 
and  frost  are  plenty,  we  still  enjoy  as  beautiful 
warm  and  dry  weather  as  one  can  wish  for — no 
snow,  nor  cold  chilly  days  but  pleasant  weather 
in  their  place.  As  miners  mainly  depend  upon 
the  rain  to  wash  their  dirt,  hove  up  throughout 
a  period  of  nine  months,  a  failure  of  it  in  Winter 
when  it  is  anxiously  looked  for  is  a  great  disap- 

67 


pointment  to  the  miners  all  over  the  country. 
When  mining  is  stopped,  everything  else  is 
dull  and  depressed.  We  may  have  some  rain 
yet  for  California  presents  such  a  strange  in- 
stance of  change  that  it  is  hard  to  tell  when  it 
will  come.  It  is  this  morning  cloudy  and  has 
every  indication  of  rain.  Three  or  four  weeks 
of  even  moderate  rain  would  furnish  a  great 
deal  of  water — the  great  commodity  for  the 
miner. 

There  appears  to  be  at  present  a  general  de- 
pression in  business  all  over  the  country, 
money  tight  and  provisions  dear  and  labor 
scarce.  Heavy  failures  happen  almost  daily 
in  the  Atlantic  Cities.  Houses  which  enjoyed 
the  greatest  public  confidence  and  patronage 
are  suspending  payment,  not  being  able  to  pay 
their  liabilities  by  a  fearful  amount.  Even 
Page  and  Bacon,  one  of  the  best  and  wealthi- 
est banking  houses  in  the  Union,  has  suspended 
payment  which,  however,  is  more  ascribed  to 
the  detention  of  gold  shipments  from  California 
than  to  deficiency  of  funds.  The  main  cause 
for  all  this  embarrassment  in  the  money  mar- 
ket appears  to  lie  in  the  heavy  export  of  gold  to 
England  in  exchange  for  English  manufactures 
and  in  the  extravagance  of  our  bankers,  brokers 
and  merchant  princes  in  the  last  ten  years. 
Nothing  but  a  stoppage  in  the  import  of  foreign 
manufacture  and  a  more  industrious  sort  of 
living  will  save  this  country  from  bankruptcy. 

68 


Even  here,  the  great  source  of  wealth  for  the 
last  six  years,  the  pressure  is  felt.  Gold  diggings 
are  getting  scarcer  all  the  time  and  as  living  is 
almost  as  dear  as  in  forty-nine  and  fifty  when 
it  was  easier  to  make  an  ounce  than  it  is  at  the 
present  day  to  make  a  dollar — it  is  easy  to  ima- 
gine how  oppressive  the  hard  times  must  be. 
The  business  I  am  engaged  in  at  the  present 
yields  but  a  very  small  profit  for  everything 
in  the  mercantile  line  is  high  in  the  market  and 
as  miners  reap  but  a  very  scant  harvest  for 
their  labor  one  has  to  sell  just  as  low  as  admis- 
sible. Profits  therefore  are  but  small.  Still, 
making  a  little  is  better  than  making  nothing 
at  all  and  as  long  as  this  can  be  done  I  intend  to 
stop  here. 

March  second.  Again  I  pick  up  the  pen  to 
make  a  few  notes  in  this  diary  to  keep  the  links 
in  the  chain  of  events  which  happen  in  this  dull 
life  of  mine.  While  writing  these  lines  the  cool 
breezes  wafted  from  the  broad  Pacific  stir  the 
warm  air  which  was  throughout  the  day  oppres- 
sive and  in  the  hours  of  twilight  grant  comfort 
and  ease  to  the  inhabitants  of  hot  climates. 
The  weather  now  is  already  as  hot  as  it  ever 
gets  in  the  middle  of  the  Summer  at  home.  Yes 
— I  believe  that  the  mercury  is  higher  now  than 
it  ever  gets  there.  This  being  only  March, 
when  they  at  home  have  still  snow  storms  and 
frost,  we  have  beautiful  Spring  and  nature  is 
already  attired  in  her  sprightly  dress  of  green 

69 


variegated  with  flowers  of  all  hues  and  shapes. 
Trees  assume  their  verdant  garments  and  along- 
side of  streamlets  adorn  the  garden  of  nature. 
Oh !  nature,  grand  and  beautiful  art  thou !  Beau- 
tiful in  every  scene  that  meets  our  eye — the 
streamlet  which  meanders  through  pleasant 
valleys  by  picturesque  hills  ornamented  by 
vines,  with  the  contented  peasant  gathering 
the  grapes.  Mountains  with  their  highest 
peaks  covered  with  everlasting  snows  meet  our 
looks  in  the  far  off  horizon  and  crown  with 
sublimity  the  rural  beauties  of  the  hills  and 
vales  at  their  foot.  Man  himself  feels  stronger 
and  of  higher  spirits  in  the  Spring  of  the  year, 
the  purity  of  the  air  and  the  balmy  smell 
which  emanates  from  flowers,  shrubs  and  trees 
exhilarate  the  soul  and  body  of  every  animated 
organic  being.  In  time  all  this  changes  to  yellow 
as  their  life  runs  out  and  their  vitality,  their 
sweet  smell  are  dried  up  by  the  tropical  heat 
of  the  South  to  rest  and  gather  life  and  nutri- 
ment anew  from  Mother  Earth. 

Man,  too,  undergoes  this  change  that  every- 
thing in  nature  is  subjected  to.  His  life  com- 
pares favourably  with  the  changes  in  the  vege- 
table world.  First,  tender  and  weak  he  gains 
care  and  attention,  strength  of  body  and  mind. 
In  the  Springtime  of  life,  his  beauty  is  of  the 
noblest  kind  and  life  is  constant  happiness. 
As  time  rolls  on  his  body  and  mind  mature, 
he  becomes  wiser  and  abler  and  in  this  estate 

70 


of  manhood  acts  and  operates  for  himself  and 
fellowmen.  This  is  the  most  useful  part  of 
man's  career  and  as  he  grows  older  he  loses  the 
vigour  he  formerly  possessed  and  at  the  end — 
in  the  Winter  of  his  life  droops  down,  grows 
weaker  and  weaker  until  finally  his  career  is  run 
and  he  has  to  join  Mother  Earth  again  to  serve 
some  new  purpose  in  the  organization  of  nature. 
There  is  one  great  invention  which  will  ever 
illumine  the  time  between  the  Dark  Ages  and 
the  present  epoch.  An  invention  which  is  as 
remarkable  for  its  intensity  of  light  as  the 
Middle  Ages  for  their  impenetrable  darkness 
and  consequent  superstition.  This  is  the  in- 
vention of  printing  by  John  Guttenburg  of 
Metz  in  Germany  in  fourteen  hundred  and  forty. 
By  one  sublime  thought  which  struck  the  mind 
of  a  single  man  or  more  properly,  by  the  divine 
inspiration  of  a  single  human  being,  benefits  as 
great  and  incalculable  were  bestowed  upon 
mankind  as  universal  space  itself  is  infinite  and 
beyond  human  calculation.  Before  that  time 
all  learning  was  limited  to  one  class — the  Clergy 
of  all  countries,  who  had  it  in  their  power  to 
devote  time  which  was  at  their  own  disposal 
to  literary  pursuits,  in  which  they  had  great 
assistance  in  the  manuscripts  of  former  ages, 
therefore  enjoyed  already  although  to  a  limited 
extent  the  blessings  which  the  art  of  printing 
afterwards  bestowed  more  universally  upon  the 
mass  of  mankind. 

71 


We  all  know  now  that  as  much  as  man  is 
superior  and  master  of  all  other  animals,  so 
is  the  intelligent  and  well  informed,  master  of 
the  ignorant  and  superstitious.  The  priests 
therefore  of  former  ages — since  they  possessed 
knowledge  above  the  rest  of  mankind  were  to 
a  great  extent  the  masters  and  in  consequence 
ruled  with  a  stronger  rod  than  ever  any  mon- 
arch ruled  his  subject  since  printing  and  conse- 
quent knowledge  became  more  diffused  among 
the  masses  of  mankind.  When  books,  in  con- 
sequence of  their  cheapness  became  plentier 
and  the  masses  became  possessed  of  the  same — 
light  began  to  penetrate  the  utter  darkness 
which  formerly  reigned  supreme  in  the  mind  of 
man  and  in  a  comparatively  short  period  of 
time  since  the  death  of  this  inventor,  the  human 
family  has  made  a  more  rapid  and  greater  pro- 
gress in  science  and  useful  knowledge  than  was 
made  in  all  time  before  that  great  event. 

March  twenty-eighth,  eighteen  hundred  and 
fifty-eight.  Left  this  day  Camp  Secco — where  I 
had  been  stopping  for  three  years  doing  busi- 
ness, such  as  groceries  and  miners'  implements. 
My  success  has  been  pretty  good — might  how- 
ever have  been  better.  Still  I  don't  complain. 
Although  I  have  not  made  as  much  as  many  a 
one  has  done  in  the  same  length  of  time,  still 
I  am  satisfied. 

The  time  while  there  passed  dully  enough 
with  me,   arising  from  the  want  of  desirable 

72 


company  and  the  non-existence  of  any  places 
of  amusement.  I  had  lots  of  time  to  myself 
and  had  I  been  so  disposed,  had  I  possessed 
different  mental  stamina,  force,  energy  and 
perseverance,  I  might  easily  have  acquired  a 
store  of  useful  knowledge.  But  it  is  of  no  use  a- 
croaking  now.  The  time  has  fled  and  in  place 
of  enjoying  at  present  a  cultivated  mind  I 
hardly  realize  ideas  enough  to  make  me  sen- 
sible that  I  am  an  intelligent,  animated  being. 
And  it  always  will  be  so  with  me.  I  think  nature 
is  more  to  blame  for  it  than  I  myself.  Had  I 
been  endowed  with  Genius  great,  with  even  the 
present  balance  of  mind  I  think  I  should  have 
made  a  great  man.  I  tried  once,  years  ago, 
to  obtain  a  lofty  position  in  science,  labored 
hard  and  long  and  what  was  the  result?  A 
machine  capable  of  a  certain  amount  of  labor 
laid  out  for  it.  Nothing  else.  I  had  no  thought 
nor  ideas  of  my  own  of  the  least  practical  use. 
I  had  better  then  be  satisfied.  Although  I  might 
possess  a  great  deal  more,  still  I  don't  think 
that  it  would  materially  benefit  my  happiness 
here. 

April  twentieth,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty- 
eight.  This  day  at  ten  o'clock,  I  left  the  wharf 
of  San  Francisco  on  the  steamboat  Golden  Age 
for  the  Atlantic  States — for  my  home  in  old 
Virginia  and  my  friends. 

I  came  to  this  country  on  the  twentieth  day 
of   August  eighteen   hundred   and   fifty-two — 

73 


making  the  time  that  I  have  been  here,  five 
years  and  eight  months  to  a  day.  My  success 
here,  if  not  what  it  might  have  been,  still 
yielded  me  a  small  capital — enough  to  start 
me  in  business  most  anywhere  and  consequently 
by  proper  management,  diligence  and  industry, 
I  shall  be  enabled  to  get  along  in  this  world 
comfortably.  Had  I  mentally  as  well  improved 
as  I  did  my  pecuniary  circumstances,  I  should 
be  well  enough  satisfied.  This,  however,  is  not 
the  case  and  for  this  reason  and  this  reason 
alone  am  I  sorry  that  I  ever  came  to  California. 
Had  I  remained  at  home,  associated  as  I  was 
with  men  of  intelligence  and  in  a  pursuit  where 
mental  effort  was  required  I  would  now  un- 
questionably be  a  smarter  if  not  equally  as 
rich  a  man.  My  mind,  although  naturally 
sterile,  by  proper  care  and  pains  would  have 
been  cultivated;  my  taste  beautified;  my  feel- 
ings and  sentiments  ennobled.  In  short,  I 
believe  that  I  would  have  been  a  wiser,  better, 
and  in  consequence  a  happier  man  than  I  am 
now.  Still,  courage,  "faint  heart,"  the  future 
may  even  yet  bestow  on  you  content  and  happi- 
ness. 

I  am  tracing  these  lines  in  the  steerage  on 
board  the  steamer,  looking  through  a  port  hole 
onto  the  wide  dark  blue  ocean  of  the  Pacific, 
which  is  laid  before  my  eyes  in  every  direction 
to  the  far  off  horizon.  How  monotonous  it 
seems  to  me.    There  are  no  hills  nor  mountains 

74 


in  the  background  of  the  vast  rolling  Pacific 
before  me.  No  trees,  bushes,  plants  of  any  kind; 
nor  is  there  an  animated  being  to  be  seen — 
unless  once  in  a  while  a  shark  or  whale  will 
show  themselves  to  our  greedy  eyes  which  long 
for  something  else  than  boundless  waters. 

There  is  something  fearful  in  the  fact  that 
there  is  nothing  between  destruction  and  the 
ocean  tossed  mariner  but  some  frail  planks  which 
half  a  dozen  accidents  may  dislodge  and  send 
him  to  the  deep  bottom  of  the  pitiless  sea. 
Such  is  man  in  his  wild  career  in  pursuit  of 
wealth  and  power  that  he  will  entrust  his  life, 
his  all,  to  a  frail  bark  which  the  winds  may  toss 
on  rocks  and  breakers  from  which  there  is 
no  salvation.  These  things  are  painfully  clear 
to  me  now  that  there  is  no  escape  from  them 
and  though  I  am  not  absolutely  afraid,  still  I 
know  that  there  are  many  chances  which  may 
destroy  us.  Who  knows — many  a  stout  vessel 
with  passengers  ever  as  sanguine  of  a  safe  voyage 
left  a  safe  haven  never  to  reach  the  place  of 
their  destination.  This  may  be  our — yes,  my — 
fate.  Still  I  will  hope  for  the  best.  Hope  that 
our  voyage  across  the  treacherous  ocean  may 
be  a  safe  one  and  carry  us  to  a  safe  Port  at 
Panama.  We  have  thus  far  enjoyed  fine  weather, 
a  calm  sea,  and  I  have  enjoyed  thus  far  tolerable 
good  health. 

Distance  from  San  Francisco  to  Panama, 
three  thousand,  two  hundred  and  sixty-two  miles. 

75 


Saturday,  April  twenty-fifth.  The  coast  was 
out  of  sight  since  the  second  morning  and  reap- 
peared this  morning,  running  for  miles  almost 
level  then  suddenly  turning  abruptly  into 
craggy  headlands,  standing  out  grotesque  in 
the  background  of  the  otherwise  monotonous 
ocean.  And  this  is  certainly  a  great  relief  after 
gazing  day  after  day  upon  the  same  far  extend- 
ing, swaying,  rippling  ocean,  with  nothing  for 
the  eye  after  exhausting  the  utmost  power  of 
vision  to  rest  on,  but  a  hazy  horizon  touching 
the  blue  expanse  of  waters. 

The  weather  has  been,  up  to  this,  clear  and 
pleasant,  perhaps  a  little  cold  at  first  but  now 
really  very  charming.  The  sea  has  been  tol- 
erably quiet  and  smooth  so  we  have  had  but 
little  sickness  on  board — less  than  I  expected 
to  see.  How  old  I  am  getting  though.  While 
writing  this,  my  feet  pain  me  which  has  been 
the  case  for  the  last  four  months.  Also  my 
teeth  which  are  mostly  decayed  and  even  my 
energies  are  dormant.  I,  who  once  set  myself 
the  great  task  of  studying  a  profession — now  can 
hardly  even  concentrate  enough  thought  to 
note  down  a  few  sensible  ideas.  Yes,  I  am  surely 
grown  old  very  fast  in  the  last  three  years. 
I  can  feel  both  in  mind  and  body.  The  latter 
is  invariably  inclined  to  indolence.  The  former 
to  downright  dormancy.  Oh,  could  I  regain 
the  play  of  my  imagination,  the  buoyancy  of 
thought  which  I  once  possessed;  could  I  possess 

76 


myself  of  ambition,  pride,  to  stimulate  me,  all 
yet  might  be  right  and  it  is  to  have  the  former 
forced  upon  me  by  circumstances  more  or  less 
that  I  reseek  the  scenes  of  my  former  home, 
hoping  that  in  the  wild  and  exciting  race  there 
for  wealth  and  position  I  too  may  be  roused 
enough  to  take  a  share. 

April  twenty-sixth.  We  passed  Cape  St. 
Lucas  on  the  night  of  the  twenty-fourth  and 
ran  yesterday  across  the  mouth  of  the  Gulf  of 
California  which  I  believe  is  here  one  hundred 
and  sixty  miles  wide.  While  doing  so  we  lost 
sight  of  the  coast  which,  however,  reappeared 
this  morning  at  daylight.  The  coast  here  pre- 
sents a  succession  of  ridges  rising  higher  back 
towards  the  land — the  whole,  however,  broken 
up  into  abrupt  peaks  rising  from  four  to  five 
hundred  feet  above  the  sea  level.  Occasionally 
a  high  cliff  stands  boldly  out  into  the  sea — its 
foot  washed  by  the  eternal  breakers.  The  whole 
of  them  are  covered  with  a  short  low  shrubbery 
which  is  now  colored  in  a  reddish  dress  being  in 
blossom  at  present. 

After  running  down  the  coast  about  fifty 
miles,  we  doubled  a  headland  and  turned  into 
a  short  bay  at  the  East  side  of  which  is  the  vil- 
lage of  Mansenilla  inhabited  by  Mexicans  who 
under  supervision  of  Government  officers  carry 
on  silver  mining  here.  The  appearance  of  every- 
thing here,  the  woods,  houses  and  men  would 
indicate  that  we  are  in  a  warmer  climate,  if 

77 


the  weather  did  not.  The  people  themselves 
wear  clothing,  as  may  be  judged  by  its  scanti- 
ness, to  hide  their  nakedness  rather  than  for 
protection  against  the  climate.  Their  color  is 
slightly  coppery,  almost  as  much  so  as  our  Cali- 
fornia Indians.  Their  houses  too  are  more 
built  as  a  shelter  from  the  tropical  sun  than 
against  the  rigours  of  a  cold  country,  they 
being  the  roughest,  simplest  kind  of  huts  built 
out  of  timber  and  brush.  We  lay  here  about  an 
hour  during  which  time  we  sent  two  passengers 
ashore  in  one  of  our  boats,  while  a  number  of 
natives  in  dugouts  swarmed  around  the  vessel, 
called  out,  I  presume,  more  on  account  of  the 
novelty  of  our  presence  than  any  other  notion. 

We  are  now  on  our  onward  voyage,  standing 
out  to  sea  while  the  coast  range  of  mountains 
is  still  at  our  left.  Yesterday  being  Sunday  and 
having  several  soul  savers  on  board  we  had  of 
course  preaching — and  enough  of  it — as  much 
as  three  times.  I  think  were  we  all  put  through 
the  same  task  every  day  for  the  next  three 
months  it  would  either  make  us  the  most  ortho- 
dox Christians  or  else  disgusted  with  Chris- 
tianity. The  whole  of  them,  the  sermons, 
amounted  to  the  same  old  rigmarole, — believe 
and  be  saved — disbelieve  and  you  are  doomed 
to  hell  and  everlasting  punishment. 

We  arrived  at  Acapulco  this  day,  the  twenty- 
eighth  of  April.  This  is  a  Spanish  town,  situ- 
ated on  one  of  the  best  harbors  on  the  Pacific 

78 


Coast.  It  forms  a  perfect  elbow  in  shape  and 
is  therefore  perfectly  water  locked  and  on  that 
account  offers  safe  mooring  to  vessels.  How 
strange  the  contrast  between  a  Spanish  and 
an  American  town — the  latter  enjoying  all  the 
health  and  vigor  and  activity  of  youth,  pro- 
gress. In  the  former  it  is  an  eternal  stand  still, 
no  activity  of  any  kind,  no  display  of  the  least 
spirit  or  energy  is  to  be  met  with  here.  Action, 
perpetual  action,  is  the  characteristic  of  the 
American.  The  want  of  all  life,  of  the  least 
healthy  action  so  necessary  to  the  existence  of 
a  people  is  to  be  found  in  Mexico.  They,  the 
people,  are  lazy,  indolent  by  nature.  All  they 
ever  strive  for  is  to  acquire  enough  of  the  sim- 
plest necessaries  of  life  and  they  are  satisfied 
if  not  happy.  Toil  is  unknown  to  them  and 
leisure  is  their  status  quo.  They  show  this 
fact  in  everything — in  the  way  they  dress, 
wearing  nothing  but  just  enough  to  cover 
their  nakedness.  Their  homes  are  builded  of 
mud,  covered  with  old  fashioned  tiles  or  with 
straw,  and  present  more  the  appearance  of 
fortified  places  than  of  dwellings.  They  (the 
houses)  most  all  have  piazzas  where  the  greater 
portion  of  the  inhabitants  pass — in  smoking 
and  talking  and  sleeping — their  days,  yes,  the 
greater  portion  of  their  life.  The  streets  are 
made  of  sandstone  slabs  or  else  hewn  in  the 
same  as  it  lies.  As  there  is  never  hardly  any 
rain  here,  and  the  town  being  built  on  solid 

79 


sandstone  foundations,  they  are  of  course  per- 
fectly clean  which,  as  already  intimated,  is 
owing  more  to  the  nature  of  the  site  than  to 
the  cleanliness  and  industry  of  the  people. 

The  town  is  situated  on  the  North  West  side 
of  the  Bay  and  consists  of  several  streets  filled 
up  by  mud  houses  as  already  stated.  North 
from  the  town,  about  one-half  mile  distant, 
lies  the  fort  on  a  slight  elevation  sloping  on 
the  East  toward  the  sea.  The  site  is  a  very  fav- 
ourable one  as  it  can  command  the  harbor  with 
its  guns,  having  enough  of  the  latter  to  sink 
any  vessel  which  may  try  to  force  its  entrance 
in  time  of  war.  The  fort  itself  is  builded  in 
the  shape  of  a  square,  with  several  embattle- 
ments.  Its  walls  rise  about  thirty  feet  from 
the  bottom  of  the  trench  which  is  of  a  depth 
of  about  ten  feet  and  surrounds  the  whole. 
The  entrance  is  afforded  by  a  drawbridge 
through  a  door  fronting  the  town.  The  soldiers 
are  but  a  sorry  set  and  I  doubt,  very  little  cal- 
culated to  do  war  time  service.  I  judge  their 
bravery  by  the  general  character  of  the  Mexi- 
can people — which  I  know  in  the  main  to  be 
cowardly.  I  presume  the  soldiers — which  are 
by  the  by,  the  most  ragged  set  I  have  ever  seen, 
having  neither  uniform  nor  even  shoes,  march- 
ing and  countermarching  like  a  lot  of  beggars 
on  the  street  with  no  military  rearing  whatever 
— will  be  the  same.  If  I  am  allowed  to  judge 
Mexico  by  this  town  of  Acapulco — which  has 

80 


all  the  advantage  of  a  most  favoured  situation 
as  seaport  and  in  consequence  is  well  fitted  for 
commerce,  it  is  certainly  a  most  neglected  coun- 
try and  with  the  resources  it  possesses  both  in 
mineral  and  agricultural  wealth  it  cannot  be 
doubted  but  what  it  would  soon  in  the  hands 
of  our  people  be  one  of  the  richest  as  well  as 
loveliest  countries  in  the  world.  This,  however, 
seems  to  be  its  ultimate  fate.  Years  may  inter- 
vene but  it  must  most  surely  eventually  give 
way  to  the  rapid  strides  of  an  onward  moving 
civilization.  When  that  day  will  come — that 
Mexico  shall  add  another  star  to  our  illustrious 
country — is  not  for  me  to  say.  I  hope,  however, 
for  the  sake  of  the  Mexican  people  themselves 
and  for  the  sake  of  the  numerous  resources  the 
country  offers  that  it  may  soon  come. 

We  left  Acapulco  Bay  about  five  o'clock  this 
afternoon  and  stood  out  to  sea.  We  are  now 
within  three  days  of  Panama,  in  fact  nearer, 
but  it  will  take  three  days  to  make  it. 

This  is  the  first  day  of  May.  Lovely  May  has 
come  around  once  more  and  Spring  with  its 
fine  bracing  breezes  has  set  in.  We  are  even 
now  within  ten  degrees  of  the  Equator,  enjoy- 
ing the  benefit  of  it  in  the  Trades  which  blow 
from  the  South  East.  The  next  morning  after 
we  left  Acapulco,  I  believe,  we  found  ourselves 
in  the  Gulf  of  Tehuantepeck  which  was  toler- 
able rough.  I  was  taken  sea-sick,  that  most 
terrible   of   all   sicknesses.     After   three   days' 

81 


suffering,  I  have  gotten  better.  Still,  even  now 
I  feel  the  sensation  of  it  in  my  throat.  Still,  I 
think  that  I  have  seen  the  worst  of  it.  If  so,  I 
shall  not  lament  it,  as  I  think  it  will  secure  me 
good  health  for  a  while. 

Although  in  the  tropics,  we  have  enjoyed  till 
now  cool  and  extremely  pleasant  weather  with 
beautiful  star  and  moonlight  nights  and  the 
bright  expanse  of  ocean  round  us,  with  our  vessel 
like  a  thing  of  life  moving  along  upon  its  bosom, 
and  in  the  dark,  at  twilight  before  the  moon  is 
up,  what  splendid  sight  is  revealed  to  the  trav- 
eller of  the  sea.  I  mean  the  bright  brilliant 
sparks  and  flashes  which  emit  from  the  spray- 
ing sheets  which  our  cutwater  sends  off  at  both 
sides  of  our  vessel — caused  by  friction  upon 
the  phosphorescent  matter  contained  in  the 
water  of  the  ocean. 

May  second.  This  morning  the  land,  consisting 
of  detached  ranges  of  mountains,  again  came 
in  sight,  and  now,  five  o'clock  P.M.  we  are 
abreast  of  an  island  to  the  left.  This  isle  is 
very  heavily  timbered;  the  whole  of  it  is  a 
mountain  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
high  with  a  small  point  of  level  country  at  the 
Eastern  end  of  it. 

May  third.  We  came  up  to  another  island 
this  morning,  thickly  covered  with  timber  and 
vegetation  of  tropical  growth.  We  kept  now 
in  sight  of  land  all  the  time,  numbers  of  islands 
being  to  our  left  and  towards  evening  the  Bay 

82 


of  Panama  came  in  sight.  This  Bay  is  of  large 
dimensions  and  very  secure,  being  well  shel- 
tered by  islands  and  the  main  coast.  We  passed 
Tobanga  Island  where  the  W.  S.  M.  Company 
has  a  station  where  they  repair  and  clean  their 
vessels  when  at  Panama.  We  entered  the  Bay 
and  dropped  anchor  twenty  minutes  past  seven 
o'clock  A.M.  The  next  morning  at  four  we 
took  the  ferry  boat  for  the  wharfs,  arrived  there, 
took  the  cars  across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  to 
Aspinwall  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  All  the  sec- 
tion of  country  we  crossed  over  on  the  cars 
offered  a  most  beautiful  sight.  It  is  more  or  less 
mountainous  and  covered  with  one  emerald 
sheet  of  thick  and  almost  impenetrable  highly 
perfumed  tropical  vegetation.  I  could  not  dis- 
cover any  trees  nor  plants  of  the  moderate  zones 
— all  being  the  products  of  the  tropics.  This 
country,  but  for  the  extreme  heat  and  the 
malaria  it  must  necessarily  create  from  its 
numerous  swamps,  would  be  almost  a  Paradise 
to  live  in.  If  Americans  should  ever  possess  it 
and  be  able  to  live  there,  they  in  truth  will 
make  it  indeed  what  it  seems  intended  for  by 
nature — one  of  the  loveliest  spots  the  world 
knows.  Aspinwall  is  a  new  place  and  traces 
its  origin  to  the  discovery  of  the  gold  mines 
in  California  and  the  subsequent  travel  across 
the  Isthmus.  It  is  principally  inhabited  by 
natives  of  Central  America,  some  French  and 
some  Americans.    The  latter,  however,  being  the 

83 


only  influential  portion  of  the  community. 
They  have  made  it  and  named  it  what  it  is 
this  day.  They  own  the  railroad  and  a  large 
depot  three  hundred  by  one  hundred  feet,  fire 
proof,  and  a  very  commodious  dock  for  the 
handling  of  the  mail  steamers  and  offices  to 
carry  on  their  business. 

We  left  the  docks  of  Aspinwall  about  four 
o'clock.  The  trip  across  the  Isthmus  occupied 
about  five  hours,  so  that  we  got  to  Aspinwall 
about  twelve  and  had  from  then  till  four  at  the 
latter  place. 

May  fifth.  The  Star  of  the  West,  the  boat  I 
am  now  on,  is  not  near  as  large  nor  as  good  a 
boat  as  the  steamer  on  the  other  side.  Still, 
if  she  only  brings  us  safe  to  New  York  I  shall 
be  satisfied  well  enough.  I  perceive  by  the  latest 
New  York  news  that  yellow  fever  broke  out  on 
the  U.  S.  S.  frigate  Susquehanna  and  at  the 
Central  American  Port  of  St.  James.  If  I  dread 
anything,  I  dread  that  and  I  hope  to  God  it 
will  not  appear  on  board  of  this  bark.  If  it 
should  be  doomed  to  that,  God  only  knows 
what  its  effect  might  be.  I  must  hope  for  the 
best.  We  are  only  about  a  week's  sail  from 
New  York.  Still,  how  uncertain  is  our  arrival 
there  considering  the  numerous  accidents  which 
we  are  apt  to  encounter,  which  may  finish  our 
existence  before  we  once  more  set  our  feet  on 
blessed  Mother  Earth. 

Distance  across  the  Isthmus  from  Panama 

84 


to  Aspinwall  on  Navy  Bay  (Colon)  forty-five 
miles.  Distance  to  New  York  one  thousand 
one  hundred  miles. 

Another  bright  day  has  risen  over  the  water 
and  a  slight  breeze  stiffens  our  sails,  carrying 
us  homewards.  I  am  still  in  bad  health,  my 
stomach  being  completely  deranged  and  in  con- 
sequence can't  enjoy  the  trip  as  well  as  I  other- 
wise might  were  I  in  good  health. 

The  steamboat  New  Grenada  which  started 
one  hour  before  us  from  Aspinwall  has  been 
more  or  less  in  sight  since  we  left  that  Port  and 
now  is  about  ten  miles  astern  of  us.  Last  eve- 
ning about  five  o'clock  P.M.  we  passed  the 
island  of  Providence  to  our  right.  This  Island 
like  all  the  rest  I  have  seen  on  this  trip  is  moun- 
tainous and  thickly  timbered.  As  there  were 
fires  on  the  coast  I  presume  it  must  be  inhabited 
and  there  are  undoubtedly  spots  on  it  under 
cultivation.  All  the  country  in  these  lower 
latitudes  is  very  fertile,  producing  luxurious 
growths  of  most  all  the  tropical  fruits. 

Providence  is  about  two  hundred  and  forty 
miles  North  East  of  North  from  Aspinwall.  This 
being  the  course  we  have  steered  since  we  left 
there.    Now  we  are  steering  due  North. 

May  ninth.  In  the  evening  of  the  seventh  we 
came  in  sight  of  the  lighthouse  of  Saint  Antoin — 
the  S.  W.  Cape  of  Cuba.  This  night  and  the 
next  day,  the  eighth,  we  cruised  along  side  of 
Cuba  for  some  three  hundred  miles.    We  came 

85 


opposite  to  Havana  about  five  o'clock  on  the 
eighth.  Havana  is  builded  close  to  the  shore, 
seemingly  resting  upon  the  water.  The  ground 
back  of  it  is  higher  and  portions  of  the  town 
are  builded  there.  The  main  city,  however,  is 
at  the  water's  edge.  Morro  Castle,  the  fort  at 
the  Harbor,  is  at  the  North  East  part  of  the 
City.  We  sailed  within  about  five  miles  of 
the  City.  The  above  were  all  the  points  I 
could  scan  at  this  distance.  Having  struck  the 
Gulf  Stream,  the  sea  became  rougher  and  I, 
in  consequence,  sick  again  and  feel  miserable 
while  scribbling  this.  I  have  the  more  reason 
to  wish  myself  safe  on  shore  at  New  York, 
having  ascertained  today  the  fact  of  the  unsea- 
worthiness of  our  boat.  The  Florida  reefs — 
keys — came  in  sight  this  forenoon  and  are  still 
in  sight.  They  are  low  lands,  or  rather  are 
elevated  reefs,  thinly  timbered  and  dreaded, 
on  account  of  the  reefs  and  rocks  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, by  the  mariner. 

We  arrived  on  the  night  of  Wednesday,  May 
twelfth,  in  sight  of  the  Long  Island  and  Sandy 
Hook  Lights  and  after  having  taken  on  a  Pilot 
we  entered  Sandy  Hook  and  passing  into  New 
York  Harbor  arrived  at  the  city  about  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  thirteenth  of 
May. 

Here  then  I  am  in  New  York — the  Empire 
City  of  America — the  greatest  commercial  port 
in  the  American  Continent  and  the  World.    Its 

86 


tonnage  is  larger  than  that  of  any  other  Port 
city  I  believe  in  the  World.  While  it  is  con- 
nected by  the  Ocean  with  all  Foreign  Countries, 
it  is  likewise  so  with  all  the  important  cities 
of  the  United  States  by  railroads  and  steamboat 
conveyance. 

I  remained  at  New  York  till  the  twenty-first 
instant.  During  my  stay  here  I  visited  the 
different  theaters.  The  Laura  Keene  on  Broad- 
way was  the  handsomest  I  had  ever  seen  in 
America,  and  what  was  still  better,  the  acting 
was  equally  good  and,  as  the  building,  the  best 
I  had  ever  the  pleasure  to  see  in  this  country. 
The  Crystal  Palace  I  saw  from  the  outside  only. 
The  whole  is  built  of  iron.  Its  model  is  chaste 
and  displays  a  good  deal  of  art  and  beauty. 
The  Palace  is  surrounded  by  an  iron  railing 
and  between  it  and  the  building  intervenes  a 
beautiful  green  sward.  East  from  the  Palace 
is  the  reservoir  of  the  great  Croton  water  works 
which  supply  the  whole  of  New  York  with 
water  which  is  brought  some  twenty-five  or 
thirty  miles  to  this  grand  reservoir,  built  of 
solid  masonry  and  occupying  a  large  area  of 
ground.  From  here  the  water  is  distributed 
over  the  whole  city  for  drinking,  culinary  and 
manufacturing  purposes.  Another  place  of 
great  celebrity,  Barnum's  Museum,  of  Ameri- 
can wide  fame,  was  also  visited  by  me.  Here 
are  stored  in  rich  profusion  treasures  of  the  ani- 
mal world  both  of  land  and  sea.    Also  a  good 

87 


gathering  of  antiquities  of  almost  all  portions 
of  the  world,  and  several  statues  of  fame  and 
renown.  Among  them  are  the  wax  models  of 
the  Emperor  of  Russia,  Joseph  of  Austria, 
Napoleon  III  and  Queen  Victoria  of  England, 
and  last  but  not  least  Kossuth  and  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  and  the  notorious  Mrs.  Cunningham 
in  whose  eyes  passion  and  crime  but  great 
beauty  is  also  written.  Among  the  persons  of 
higher  renown  is  Mary  the  Mother  of  Jesus. 
Animals  of  all  kinds  and  species  are  amassed 
here  in  great  variety  too  numerous  to  mention. 
They  are  mostly  stuffed  except  numerous  fresh 
and  salt  water  fishes  which  are  kept  alive  here 
enjoying  their  native  element  in  large  tanks. 
The  large  boa  constrictor  and  another  large 
snake  are  also  kept  living  here  by  means  of 
artificial  heat  supplied  them.  Among  the  an- 
tiques are  coins  of  centuries  long  since  passed. 
American  state  documents  of  the  last  century, 
flags  and  arms  of  the  Revolutionary  and  Indian 
wars.  Among  the  latter  a  number  of  tomahawks, 
spears,  battleaxes,  etc.  Curiosities  from  China 
and  Japan  are  also  here  in  this  great  mulium 
in  parvo.  Also  a  large  metallurgical  collection 
with  minerals  of  all  kinds.  A  Panorama  with 
representation  of  many  beautiful  scenes  from 
Italy,  France  and  Austria  is  found  here.  The 
pictures  of  the  celebrated  Generals  and  States- 
men of  American  History  as  those  of  celebrated 
men  and  women  of  the  present  day  adorn  its 

88 


walls.  The  exposition  in  this  Museum  is  so 
grand  and  my  survey  of  its  treasures  was  so 
short  and  superficial  that  I  am  not  able  to 
relate  and  specify  them  any  plainer  or  with 
greater  accuracy.  I  was,  however,  well  pleased 
the  few  hours  I  remained  there  and  considered 
that  time  spent  to  exceeding  great  purpose. 

New  York  has  many  beautiful  buildings  and 
the  Fifth  Avenue  is  a  street  of  palaces  and  in 
my  opinion  compares  favourably  with  any  street 
of  any  city  in  the  World.  Here  reside  the  rich- 
est people  in  the  city.  None  but  nabobs  being 
able  to  exist  in  the  air  of  this  moneyed  Ameri- 
can aristocracy.  If  the  insides  of  these  dwell- 
ings enjoy  corresponding  happiness  with  all 
these  luxurious  surroundings  is  not  for  the 
people  to  know.  Still,  as  nothing  in  this  world 
is  all  blessedness  and  sunshine,  one  may  well 
suppose  that  too,  in  these  grand  dwellings 
wretchedness  and  heartburnings  may  be  met. 
The  great  enterprise  of  New  York  at  present 
upon  which  succeeding  ages  will  bestow  all 
gratitude  is  the  building  of  a  grand  Park  where 
the  thousands  of  this  city — the  rich,  the  poor, 
the  highly  born  and  lowly  may  pass  moments 
of  pleasure  and  rest  from  the  noise  and  tur- 
moil of  the  city  and  acquire  strength  and 
cheerfulness  for  the  hard  tasks  of  every  day  life. 

I  left  New  York  City  on  the  twenty-first 
instant  for  Philadelphia — the  Quaker  City — 
where  I  arrived  at  four  o'clock  P.M.      This, 


which  I  always  supposed  to  be  the  handsomest 
city  in  America,  I  am  sorry  that  I  am  compelled 
to  state,  disappointed  all  my  bright  anticipa- 
tion of  its  beauties.  It  is  true,  being  consider- 
ably exhausted  by  much  traveling  and  having 
my  thirst  for  sight-seeing  considerably  abated 
at  New  York,  I  was  not  exactly  in  a  condition 
to  receive  grand  and  stunning  impressions.  Had 
I  arrived  here  first,  fresh  from  the  mountains 
of  California  instead  of  New  York,  Philadelphia 
might  have  impressed  me  with  feelings  of 
admiration  and  satiated  my  desire  to  view 
architectural  and  artistic  beauties  to  its  full. 
As  it  is — New  York,  had  the  precedence  in  my 
visit  and  with  the  remembrance  of  its  grandeur 
fresh  upon  my  mind,  I  am  obliged  to  admit 
that  the  City  of  Penn  fell  short  in  its  treasures 
of  beauty  of  what  I  hoped  and  wished  to  find. 
Here,  however,  as  is  universally  the  case,  are 
exceptions  to  be  met.  Only  had  I  hoped  the 
inverted  to  be  the  case — namely  that  beauties 
might  be  the  rule  and  common  appearance  the 
exception.  I  refer  to  the  Institution  vdiich  will 
for  a  far  off  future  immortalize  the  name  it 
bears — I  mean  Girard  College.  This  is  as  far  as 
I  have  knowledge,  the  handsomest  and  grace- 
fullest  edifice  in  America.  At  the  time  of  day 
I  went  to  visit  it,  I  could  not  get  admittance  and 
my  view  of  it  was  in  consequence  indistinct  from 
the  walls  and  distance  that  intervened.  Still, 
I  saw  enough  fully  to  sustain  the  above  opinion. 

90 


The  edifice  is  large  in  size,  surrounded  by  a 
portico  ornamented  by  Corinthian  Columns  of 
the  chastest  workmanship.  The  material  which 
composes  its  grand  walls  is  I  believe,  fine 
marble.  This,  the  main  edifice,  has  two  addi- 
tional buildings  on  each  side — two  for  the  male 
and  two  for  the  female  pupils.  Beautiful 
grounds,  planted  with  handsome  trees  and  flower 
beds  intersected  by  gravel  walks  surround  the 
buildings.  The  whole  again  is  enclosed  by  a 
big  wall  to  keep  the  outer  world  from  intruding 
and  marring  the  quiet  and  beauty  within. 
Girard,  the  founder,  once  poor  but  rich  in 
thought,  energy,  and  perseverance,  accumulated 
by  well  applied  industry  and  diligence  a  princely 
fortune  of  which  he  the  greater  portion,  $800,- 
000,  bestowed  upon  the  orphans  of  Philadelphia 
in  the  most  generous  and  useful  way  in  this, 
the  greatest  American  Orphan  College.  He, 
in  his  will  forbade  the  introduction  of  any 
religion  for  educational  purposes  and  also, 
the  entrance  of  any  of  its  apostles  within  the 
walls.  And  who  will  blame  him  for  this  sweeping 
and,  by  many  condemned  as  sinful,  prescrip- 
tion? It  was  not  the  want  of  faith  of  the  man 
in  an  all  ruling  Deity.  No,  but  quite  otherwise, 
his  high  regard  for  the  same,  which  guided  him 
in  this  action.  Knowing  as  we  all  know  of  the 
great  variety  of  religious  communities,  all 
differing  with  one  another,  yes,  in  many  cases 
condemning  one  another,  he  thought  well  and 

91 


justly  so  to  keep  the  infant  mind  free  of  the 
different  feuds  and  enmities  of  the  different  sects. 
His  purpose  was  to  give  them  an  enlightened 
education,  to  acquaint  their  mind  with  facts, 
with  events  and  their  causes  and  effects — 
so  that  when  ripened  and  matured  into  men  and 
women  free  from  all  prejudices,  they  might 
themselves  be  enabled  by  pure  and  cultivated 
thought  to  form  a  just  and  enlightened  opinion 
of  their  own  about  religion  and  its  principles 
and  aim  and  purpose.  Is  it  not  better  so  to 
have  the  mind  of  the  to-man-grown  boy  and 
the  mind  of  the  girl  who  has  reached  woman- 
hood unfettered  by  stubborn  prejudices,  per- 
haps with  hatred  against  its  fellow  creatures, 
than  to  have  it  in  its  infancy  so  directed  as  to 
make  it  almost  impossible  to  allow  them  differ- 
ent views  and  opinions  from  those  early  im- 
planted upon  the  infant  mind?  I  approve  the 
motive  and  can  appreciate  the  intelligence  and 
foresight  of  the  mind  of  its  originator.  Honor 
and  blessing  be  to  him — Girard — one  of  the 
great  benefactors  of  the  poor. 

From  here  I  continued  my  journey  by  the 
P.  C.  R.  R.  via  Harrisburg  over  the  Alleghenys 
to  Pittsburg,  and  from  there  took  the  steamer 
to  Wheeling  the  home  of  my  brother  Frederic 
and  his  family.  I  parted  from  them,  New  Year 
eighteen  fifty -one  and  as  I,  in  the  Spring  of  the 
same  year,  left  for  California  from  which  I 
have  only  now  returned,  I  had  not  seen  them 

92 


since.  My  arrival  seemed  to  give  them  great 
pleasure  and  all  subsequent  appearances  seemed 
to  warrant  the  genuineness  of  their  display 
of  affectionate  feelings.  I  trust  this  may  really 
be  the  case.  That  sincerity  and  not  an  un- 
nobler  motive  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  lavished 
kindness.  I  know  the  value  of  a  true,  sincere, 
noble  affection  and  love  so  that  I  am  always  prone 
to  suspect  its  genuineness  when  too  freely  and 
plentifully  offered.  I  still  trust  it  may  have  been 
real  in  this  case.  Brother  Henry  who  resides 
at  Sunfish,  Munro  Co.,  Ohio,  I  also  visited  for 
five  or  six  days  and  passed  the  time  right  cheer- 
fully whilst  there.  Henry  is  an  honest  soul, 
true  and  sincere,  incapable  of  deception.  Both 
brothers  wished  me  to  remain  with  them  and 
join  them  in  business.  Their  wishes,  however, 
I  saw  best  to  decline.  I  am  certain  that  by 
separation  we  can  harbor  more  and  better  affec- 
tion between  us.  Then  the  place  and  its  environs 
did  not  suit  my  taste  for  a  life  long  Home.  Yes- 
terday, Tuesday,  the  eighth  of  June,  I  bade  them 
again  farewell  and  took  on  the  steamer  Courier, 
my  departure  for  Cincinnati  to  go  from  there 
further  West  in  search  of  a  home.  Ho,  for  the 
West!  Kind  God,  may  ye  will  that  I  meet  my 
anticipations  and  wishes.  All  I  wish  is  a  pleas- 
ant, yes  a  beautiful  and  healthy  nook  to  live 
in,  with  a  kind  and  loving  wife  to  cheer  me  in 
the  battle  of  life  and  loving  children  to  surround 
and  ease  when  once  I  journey  the  down  hill 

93 


of  life  towards  ??? — the  grave — dissolution — the 
end  of  man?  In  short,  I  want  Love  in  a  Cottage. 
I  arrived  at  Cincinnati  on  the  morning  of 
the  tenth  instant  and  took  up  lodgings  at  the 
Spencer  House,  one  of  the  best  and  of  course, 
dearest  hotels  in  the  city.  This  place  surpassed 
my  expectations  which  I  had  formed  in  regard 
to  its  industry,  activity  and  wealth.  Since  my 
last  visit  here  in  eighteen  fifty -two,  the  town 
has  been  greatly  embellished  by  many  beauti- 
ful buildings,  both  private  and  public.  Among 
the  latter  those  which  deserve  mention  are  the 
Custom  House,  and  Post  Office,  the  Court  House 
and  many  beautiful  churches,  amongst  which 
the  Catholic  Cathedral  is  the  handsomest.  Be- 
sides this,  many  new  hotels — all  of  them  fine 
houses,  as  also  many  imposing  business  houses 
have  been  erected  of  late  years.  The  streets, 
at  least  in  the  main  part  of  the  town  which  I 
only  ambulated,  are  laid  out  at  right  angles. 
Among  those  which  run  from  the  river,  form- 
ing a  right  angle  with  the  same,  I  noticed 
Broadway,  Main,  Sycamore,  Walnut.  These 
are  intersected  by  the  streets  running  parallel 
with  the  river  numbered  One,  Two,  Three,  Four, 
etc.  In  short  Cincinnati,  with  a  population  of 
200,000  and  still  increasing,  has  all  the  appear- 
ance of  a  thriving,  wealthy,  industrial  and  com- 
mercial city,  and  fills  the  position  of  such  in  the 
United  States.  It  is  especially  famous  for  the 
millions  of  hogs  killed  and  packed  here  annually. 

94 


From  here,  in  the  shape  of  shoulders,  bacon 
and  ham  they  are  sent  all  over  the  United  States 
and  a  large  portion  shipped  via  New  Orleans 
to  England.  Opposite  to  Cincinnati,  is  New  Port, 
Kentucky — also  a  thriving  town.  I  stopped  here 
over  night  and  left  the  eleventh  at  twelve 
o'clock  on  the  steamer  Jacob  Stratton,  the  first 
and  only  low  pressure  boat  I  ever  saw  on  the 
Ohio,  for  Louisville,  Kentucky.  During  last 
night  it  set  in  again  raining  and  continued  so 
all  day — so  that  I  had  but  little  desire  of  being 
outside  the  cabin  and  consequently  observed 
but  little  of  the  scenery  along  the  river  to 
Louisville.  There  are  a  number  of  thriving 
towns  along  the  river — the  principal  of  which 
is  Madison,  Indiana.  The  Big  Miami  river 
divides  Ohio  from  Indiana.  We  lay  over  night 
at  Louisville.  The  next  morning  I  and  my 
recently  made  acquaintance  Mr.  Charles  N. 
Scram,  went  over  the  greater  part  of  the  city. 
Louisville  belongs  to  Kentucky,  situated  on  the 
Ohio  river  at  the  head  of  the  celebrated  falls 
of  the  Ohio.  The  latter  are,  except  at  high 
water,  an  obstruction  to  navigation  to  over- 
come which  the  two-mile  long  canal  was  built 
at  enormous  cost  and  boats  go  through  it 
around  the  falls  and  strike  again  the  Ohio 
below.  Louisville  counts  a  population  of  sixty 
thousand  inhabitants  and  is  of  both  commercial 
and  industrial  importance.  It  has  several  fine 
public  buildings  and  the  richness  and  beauty 

Bancroft  Library        95 


and  chastity  of  its  many  private  buildings 
bespeak  at  once  the  wealth  and  taste  of  its 
occupants.  Its  streets  are  wide  and  it  rejoices 
with  Cincinnati  in  Avenues  of  trees  now  cov- 
ered with  the  richest  of  foliage. 

We  delayed  here  till  noon  of  the  twelfth, 
when  we  again  took  the  steamer  Moses  McLellan 
for  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  The  rain  still  continued 
to  fall  and  the  Ohio  river,  as  all  the  rivers 
throughout  the  country,  continues  to  rise.  They 
promise  to  cause  by  their  overflow  an  incalcu- 
lable amount  of  damage  to  the  crops  in  the  bot- 
toms through  which  they  now  roll  their  courses 
with  the  wildest  of  turbulence.  Last  night,  or 
rather,  this  morning,  the  rain  has  abated  and 
thank  God  the  sun  once  more  radiates  its 
genial  beams.  May  it  continue  and  its  blessed 
warmth  may  yet  reclaim  many  otherwise  lost 
acres  of  grain. 

It  is  now  Sunday,  twelve  o'clock  and  we  have 
arrived  three  hundred  and  three  miles  from 
Louisville,  having  still  three  hundred  and  six- 
teen miles  to  St.  Louis.  We  shall  probably  get 
there  tomorrow  night.  Thanks  to  my  cursed 
mind,  I  have  this  last  two  days  again  been 
oppressed  with  the  blues,  what  it  will  ever  end 
in  I  don't  know,  possibly  in  suicide.  Why  was  I 
ever  made  or  why  was  I  not  endowed  with  a 
mind  to  make  life  desireful,  pleasing  and  cheer- 
ful instead  of  the  one  I  possess,  which  is  in- 
capable to  create  a  world  for  itself  and  too  dull 

96 


and  selfish  to  enjoy  that  of  others?  However, 
there  is  no  help  except — what  can't  be  cured 
must  be  endured. 

Cairo,  at  the  junction  of  the  Mississippi  and 
Ohio  rivers,  we  reached  Sunday  evening.  The 
flood  has  desolated  much  of  this  lower  country, 
destroying  crops  and  homes  and  in  fact  all 
kinds  of  property  it  encountered  in  its  sweep- 
ing course.  Here  it  broke  through  the  levee 
which  had  been  builded  at  a  cost  of  twelve 
millions  of  dollars  and  overran  the  whole  town 
except  a  portion  on  the  highest  part  of  the  Ohio 
levee.  The  damage  is  immense  and  general. 
All  being  sufferers  by  it,  it  is  chance  now  whether 
it  will  ever  be  rebuilded.  Its  locality  is  such  that 
it  must  always  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  high 
floods  which  occur  in  these  upper  rivers  period- 
ically. They  may  fail  some  years,  but  will 
only  when  they  do  come  be  so  much  more 
terrible  in  their  destruction.  We  doubled  the 
point  and  with  a  strong  current  against  us, 
ran  up  stream.  All  the  bottom  along  the  river 
was  covered  with  water,  water,  presenting  one 
bright  broad  sheet  of  water  variegated  with 
forests  of  trees,  in  many  places  the  roofs  of 
homes  being  apparent  only  and  many  being 
entirely  under  water. 

We  reached  St.  Louis  Tuesday  morning,  the 
fifteenth  instant.  St.  Louis  is  a  stirring  place, 
made  so  by  its  favourable  location  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi river.     This  river  connects  it  with  the 

97 


State  of  Missouri,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Minnesota 
and  Kansas,  and  with  all  the  country  on  the 
lower  Mississippi — principally  New  Orleans. 
This  place  will  in  a  short  time  rival  any  inland 
town  in  the  Union  and  eventually  become  the 
next  largest  city  to  New  York.  I  stopped  here 
almost  two  days,  left  it  on  the  seventeenth  of 
June  for  the  Northern  part  of  Missouri  and 
Kansas.  The  trip  up  the  Missouri  is  very 
tedious,  the  scenery  being  all  the  same  all  the 
way.  Bluffs  of  little  beauty  and  bottom  lands 
covered  with  cottonwood.  The  river  is  very 
crooked  and  very  rapid  in  its  course.  On  both 
these  accounts  we  made  slow  headway  up  nar- 
row chutes,  around  innumerable  bends,  past 
ever  so  many  towns  and  villages. 

Sunday  evening  we  got  to  Kansas  City, 
Missouri.  I  laid  over  here  the  next  day  Mon- 
day, in  order  to  see  the  place  and  find  out 
something  about  its  resources  and  prospects. 
While  here  I  visited  Wyandot  on  the  North 
side  of  Kansas  River,  the  same  side  as  Kansas 
City  on  the  Missouri.  This  is  a  very  new  free 
state  settlement  and  although  but  of  recent 
origin  has  many  fine  houses,  stores  and  hotels. 
Possessing  a  very  good  site  for  a  city  with  a 
good  landing,  it  will  be  in  time,  when  the 
resources  of  Kansas  are  developed,  a  thriving 
place.  Kansas  City  is  built  on  a  bluff  rising 
from  the  river  bank  and  expensive  grading  was 
necessary  to  secure  an  area  for  houses.     From 

98 


here  streets  are  made  by  excavating  through 
the  bluffs  to  the  best  part  of  the  city  which  lies 
back  of  the  bluffs.  This  addition  is  quite  new 
but  springing  up  now  very  fast  and  will  be- 
come in  time  a  large  city. 

I  left  Kansas  City  on  Monday  afternoon  for 
Leavenworth  and  St.  Joseph  and  reached  the 
latter  place  on  the  twenty-fourth  instant.  I 
had  been  here  in  eighteen  fifty-two,  on  my  way 
to  California.  I  remembered  well  enough  its 
site  but  the  town  has  changed  very  much  since 
that  time,  having  at  least  four  times  increased 
in  its  size  and  population.  It  is  laid  out  in 
rectangular  streets  having  on  Second  street 
an  open  place  for  the  market  house.  There  are 
already  many  fine  buildings  here  and  many 
more  going  up.  Property  has  greatly  enhanced 
in  value  on  account  of  its  unrivalled  location. 
I  stayed  here  several  days  making  enquiry 
and  gaining  information  as  to  the  resources 
of  the  place  and  its  adaptability  to  my  business. 
The  prospects  held  out  to  me  were  fair  enough 
and  I  partly  decided  if  I  could  not  find  a  place 
suiting  still  better  to  return  here  and  establish 
myself  in  business. 

I  left  this  town  for  Leavenworth,  seventy 
miles  South  of  St.  Joseph  on  the  Missouri  River. 
This  is  in  Kansas  and  although  only  three 
years  old  has  already  attained  a  size  and  enjoys 
a  large  and  growing  commerce  which  rivals  many 
a  town  of  ten  times  its  age.   It  is  at  present  the 

99 


key  port  to  Kansas  Territory.  Most  of  the 
business  for  the  Territory  is  transacted  here. 
Its  location  on  the  Missouri  River  secures  it 
the  connection  with  St.  Louis  and  through  it  by 
the  Grand  Central  Web  of  Railroads  with  all 
parts  of  the  United  States.  The  site  for  the 
town  is  good  and  back  some  distance  from  the 
river  and  right  above  the  business  part  of  the 
town,  up  the  River,  beautiful. 

This  town  holds  out  the  same  inducements 
to  me  to  start  business  here  as  St.  Joseph.  It 
does  now  and  I  think  always  will  lead  St. 
Joseph  in  commercial  importance  and  the  fact 
of  being  in  a  free  State  will  probably  turn  the 
scale  in  its  favor  in  my  decision  between  the 
two  places.  Leavenworth  City  at  present  is 
yet  only  three  years  old  and  grown  as  sudden 
as  it  has,  everyone  putting  up  buildings  only 
studying  to  make  the  least  outlay  practicable 
for  present  purposes,  the  sanitary  arrangements 
have  of  consequence  been  neglected  and  this 
I  am  satisfied  in  my  mind  will  be  the  cause  of 
severe  sickness  during  this  and  the  still  coming 
scorching  heat  of  Summer.  This  fact  will  prob- 
ably keep  me  off  till  Fall,  when  colder  winds 
will  purify  the  air  from  putrid  exhalations. 

I  started  on  a  short  trip  inland,  to  see  some- 
what more  of  the  Territory  than  its  outskirts, 
on  the  last  day  of  June.  This  is  certainly  a 
lovely  country  to  survey,  bound  to  attract  the 
admiration  of  any  one  in  whose  heart  the  least 

100 


drop  of  human  kindness  is  not  forever  dried 
up.  A  living  sea  is  the  truest  picture  I  can  give 
of  its  appearance,  the  whole  is  a  vast  expanse 
of  land,  undulating,  shifting,  like  the  eternal 
throwings  of  the  Ocean.  Here  and  there  streams 
meandering  along  through  some  of  its  shallow 
curves,  fringed  with  trees,  add  to  the  sublimity 
of  the  scene.  But  for  me  to  portray  this  part 
of  nature's  face  is  a  useless  task.  I  can  feel  the 
grandeurs  of  it  easier  than  to  describe  them. 

After  passing  through  the  reservation  of  the 
Delaware,  we  crossed  the  Kansas  River  and 
arrived  at  Lawrence,  the  first  town  this  side  of 
Leavenworth.  I  arrived  just  in  time  to  hear 
of  the  acquittal  of  Jim  Lame  for  the  murder  of 
Jennings.  After  a  stay  of  an  hour  during  which 
I  promenaded  once  or  twice  through  the  only 
street  which  makes  the  present  town,  I  took 
the  stage  for  Topeka,  twenty-five  miles  dis- 
tance. I  had  the  pleasure  of  enjoying  a  right 
good  thorough  jolting,  making  the  trip  one  of 
punishment  instead  of  pleasure.  After  a  long 
and  tedious  ride  of  nine  hours,  passing  through 
Tecompton  and  Tecomseh,  we  arrived  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  first  of  July  in 
Topeka.  I  came  here  principally  to  buy  hides, 
but  could  not  find  any  here.  This,  like  all  the 
places  here  is  quiet  and  at  present  very  dull, 
being  in  fact  at  the  lowest  stage  of  commercial 
stagnation.  I  shall  take  the  stage  tomorrow  at 
two  A.M.  for  Leavenworth  City. 

101 


